Slayers, The Chosen Two
by Sinister Slayer
Summary: Right after season 7, they've just saved the world and now Faith and Buffy are going through some confusing changes. This is FaithBuffy fem slash to warn anyone who might be against that stuff.
1. Venting Frustrations

Venting Frustrations

Buffy and Faith sat in the waiting room in silence. Every once in a while they managed to make some small talk but it would only last about a minute or so. Faith was sitting on her chair with her head in her hands. She had been going back and forth between this position and leaning as far back in her seat as possible the whole time. Buffy moved around a little bit more then that. She switched seats several times after pacing the room. She had never been a big fan of hospitals. They always made her nervous.

Although Robin Wood was not dead, after the big battle that took place under the former town of Sunnydale, California, he was very close to it. He was sliced across his stomach and all though none of the scoobies were doctors most of them were pretty sure that at least one or two major arteries were hit.

After the gang's realization of victory at the mouth of the crater that was once Sunnydale, Vi had come out of the bus to tell them just how bad Robin really looked. A few of the others also weren't looking much better then he was so they packed into the bus once again and headed straight for the nearest hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital Robin and a few of the other girls were rushed into the Emergency Room while nurses tended to the less severe wounds of the others. The three girls that were in critical condition when arriving were now stabilized. The only person that remained a question mark was Robin.

Robin had been in surgery for nearly six hours and Buffy and Faith had been waiting for news. Willow, Xander, Dawn and the others stopped by every once in a while but they tried to stay with the other injured girls as well. Buffy and Faith were the only ones sitting in wait for the entire time.

Buffy sighed as she sat down in a chair across from Faith after going through one of her pacing moods. She once again tried to think of something to say, anything to say just to break the silence in the room. She glanced around the room and her eyes landed on a painting to the left of her. It was just one of those cheesy paintings that they put in hospital waiting rooms to lighten the mood but it was pretty. It was a painting of a small house in the country side. Everything around it was green. There were trees everywhere and if you looked close enough you could see a small pond in the far left corner. To Buffy it looked like paradise.

"Pretty painting," she said aloud as she fixated on it.

The sound of someone speaking nearly made Faith jump. She had become accustomed to the silence. She pulled her head away from her hands in a start and looked at Buffy and then in the direction Buffy was looking. She examined the painting for a moment but didn't really pay much attention to it. She could tell that Buffy was simply trying to break the quiet and make some conversation, but Faith wasn't really up for talking. "Yeah…it's nice," she replied. Then she went about her routine and switched positions to leaning back as far as she could in her chair.

Buffy pressed her lips together and nodded her head in agreement. And that was pretty much the extent of that conversation. Buffy rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of air. This was taking way too long. She feared the worst but she tried not to show it.

Finally, only a few minutes later, the girls saw the doctor walking down the hall in they're direction. Buffy's heart sank as she stood up and tried to prepare herself for what she was about to hear. She watched as Faith stood up at nearly the same exact time. Both girls walked towards the doctor as he made his way into the room.

The doctor took a deep breath and clenched his hands together as he approached the girls. Buffy and Faith looked at each other with worry in they're eyes. They could read people well enough to know that this doctor wasn't here to give them good news. The doctor extended his hand to Faith who was the closest to him. "I'm Dr. Green. Are you the ladies that brought Mr. Wood?"

Faith extended her hand nervously and shook the doctor's hand. "Yeah, I'm Faith. Is he gonna be ok?"

The doctor then extended his hand to Buffy and she shook it nervously. "Buffy. How is he doctor?"

Dr. Green took a deep breath and then exhaled sadly. "I'm very sorry. Mr. Wood sustained severe arterial damage. We tried to go in surgically to repair the damage but…I'm afraid we were unsuccessful. I'm sorry but we were unable to save him. We did all we could."

Faith's heart sank into her stomach and she almost felt like she would be sick. She turned away from the doctor and clenched her fists as she tried to fight back any tears that might come but the strange thing was that no tears were even trying to break free. She was upset of course but she was almost more angry then upset. She wanted to hit something. She was angry at him for not fighting harder. She walked to the wall and put her hands against it and her head facing the ground. She closed her eyes as her rage built up inside of her. As hard as she tried to contain her anger it proved useless. In one quick motion she let all of her anger out in a loud scream along with a strong punch into the wall that nearly made her hand go all the way through. She faced the doctor and then Buffy and then the doctor again. "I'm sorry," she said as she turned and walked out of the room.

Buffy glanced from the doctor to the hole in the wall, to Faith leaving and then back to the doctor. "I am so sorry about that but I really have to go after her. My friends are here…they'll take care of this. I…I have to go." Then she franticly chased after Faith. She had no idea what she was going to say to the hurt girl but she couldn't just let her leave like she did with her emotions on high.

When Buffy got out of the hospital she spotted Faith going into an alley way near the exit of the parking lot. She ran towards her. "Faith! Stop!" she yelled as she tried to get the girl to stop and talk to her. "I know your upset and you have every right to be. You were the closest to Robin and it's understandable to…"

Before Buffy could finish what she was saying Faith stopped and turned towards her with anger in her eyes. "No B. I wasn't the closet to him and you don't need to worry about me ok. It's not a big deal. In our line of work we lose people. It happens. We get over it."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You know that's not true. I know there was something between the two of you and I know you cared about him and I think you'll feel a lot better if you don't bottle up your emotions."

Faith smiled and nearly burst out laughing. "Something between the two of us? What? That we slept together. Buffy, of all people you should know me better then that. I don't care about the guys I sleep with. They mean nothing to me. And if I wanted to be shrinked I'd go beat the advice out of a real one ok so just leave it alone."

Faith turned around and started to continue walking but Buffy wasn't giving up that easily. Sure Faith would put up a strong face but Buffy knew her better then that. Faith was right, she was the type to just sleep with a guy and then kick him to the curb but Robin was different. She could see it in the way they looked at each other. He was the one guy that was finally breaking through that wall that Faith had put up in front of her heart so long ago.

Buffy stormed off after her now getting angry herself. "Look why don't you just drop the tough girl act and just admit that you're upset. You're angry that he's gone. You're mad that he didn't fight harder. You're furious because he left you." Even though Faith's back was turned to Buffy as they both walked deeper into the alley Buffy could tell that she was getting to her but not in the way she was hoping. Faith was just getting angrier.

Buffy finally caught up to Faith, put her hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face her. Before Buffy could continue saying what she was going to say Faith turned and sent a backhanded fist to Buffy's jaw.

Buffy was thrown a little off balance from the blow. She clenched her now swelling jaw as she slowly brought herself back to reality. The anger in Faith's eyes had now turned to regret as she shook her head apologetically. "Oh man. I'm sorry Buffy I just…"

Before Faith was able to finish Buffy regained her balance and sent the same backhanded blow right back to Faith with furry in her eyes. Faith instinctively grabbed her aching jaw and looked up at Buffy with surprise. For a moment the two slayers just looked into each other's eyes with they're anger steadily building inside.

Finally, that anger was released but not in the way that either of them expected. Faith looked Buffy up and down trying to figure out the best way to get in the next punch but instead of throwing a punch her body was telling her to do something else. She grabbed Buffy's face forcefully and crushed the girl's mouth with her own. The kiss lasted longer then she expected when Buffy returned the gesture and actually kissed her back. After a few moments Faith slowly pulled away.

The slayers looked into each other's eyes searchingly. The surprise in they're eyes revealed that neither one expected this to happen but something had gotten a hold of them. Despite what they're minds were telling them they're bodies wanted to explore things further. Before either one had the chance to assess what had just happened, Buffy shoved Faith into the wall of the alley way and initiated another strong and forceful kiss.

Faith kissed the slayer back opening her mouth invitingly. They're tongues interlocked as they're heart rates began to rise. When they took a break for air Faith shoved Buffy away from her as if she wanted no more of this but then rushed towards her and pushed her against the opposite wall.

It was her turn to be in control.

She thrust the older slayer's hands against the wall with her own as she continued to explore every inch of her mouth.

When the next break for air came the younger slayer moved her attentions to Buffy's neck while continuing to pin her hands against the wall. She explored every edge of the girl's neck looking for all the right places to make Buffy squirm with delight.

And she found them.

Buffy stayed in place letting Faith take control of her body. She closed her eyes in ecstasy as the slayer found all the right places on her neck to make her weak in the knees. She trembled slightly, losing herself in the pleasure.

Faith could feel Buffy's body quivering with satisfaction. Knowing that she was the cause of this made her own enjoyment rise. When she had her fill with Buffy's neck she moved back up to her mouth. As she continued to kiss the older slayer she moved her hand's from pinning her wrists, to interlocking her fingers with Buffy's. They raised they're arms as high as they would reach as Faith pushed her entire body closer to Buffy's.

Buffy forced they're locked hands down to they're sides and broke the connection. When her hands were finally freed she proceeded to run them along Faith's tensed body.

She started at her thighs and then slowly but firmly moved them to her back side grabbing each cheek firmly and pulling her body even closer to her own. She then slowly moved her hands to Faith's back reaching up her shirt longing to touch her soft skin.

Faith allowed Buffy to explore her body as she braced herself against the wall and deepened they're kiss just a little bit more. She then ran her hands through the blonde slayer's hair and then finally moved them back to they're original place on cheeks.

The slayers started to slow they're advances as realization of where they were and what was happening began to sink in. Buffy's hands moved out from underneath Faith's shirt and traveled to her waist. Faith also moved her hands from Buffy's face to her waist. The kisses began to slow and the girls finally pulled they're lips away from each other. For a few moments they continued to hold each other and lean they're heads against one another's while they caught they're breath.

When they finally broke they're holds on each other awkwardness and confusion filled the air. They turned away from each other still breathing heavily. Buffy put her hands on her head and swept her hair out of her face while Faith just leaned against the wall of the ally with one hand for support. They're encounter had been more intense then either one of them had realized when it was still going on. Even for two extremely strong slayers, they were actually warn out.

Both of they're minds were racing with the awareness of what they had just done. Faith finally regained her balance and uncomfortably said, "I umm…I'm gonna go uh…take a walk." She then looked around in a confused manor as she still didn't fully understand what was going on and what just happened.

"Right," Buffy responded with the same discomfort in her voice. "I'm gonna…go back to the hospital."

Faith nodded her head and then the two slayers turned in opposite directions and walked away.


	2. Deep Thoughts

A/N: Hey I just wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and review the first chapter of this story. This is my first fan fic post on this site so I'm new to the site but not new to fan fiction. I crave reviews so please feel free to post them weather its good or bad. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter and thanks again!

Deep Thoughts

Buffy resembled a zombie as she slowly walked back to the hospital with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a million things on her mind and at the same time nothing at all. She kept replaying what had just happened in the alley over and over again in her mind. Every time she replayed it, all she could think was…How did this happen?

Never before in her life had she been attracted to another woman. Sure, she could recognize an attractive woman when she saw one but she never had any sexual desires for them. Not once had she ever questioned her sexuality. It had always been about the boys. Boys had consumed her life like any normal teenage girl before she became the slayer. Even after she had romances with Angel, Riley and even Spike.

But for some reason…this was different.

From the moment she saw Faith she could tell that there was something different about her. It was almost as if Buffy was drawn to her. She never paid much attention to it though, and she certainly never thought of this connection in a sexual way. It was always just something that was just…there. At first she just assumed it meant that they were destined to become good friends, even though there was a period of jealousy there for a while.

When she really let herself think that far back, she tried to remember what exactly it was that she was jealous of. Faith was steeling her life. She was becoming all buddy buddy with her friends and even her mother seemed to really like the girl. But was that really why she was jealous? Maybe she wasn't jealous of Faith steeling her friends. Maybe she was jealous that her friends were steeling Faith. Maybe she was jealous because she wanted Faith to herself, to be hers and no one else's.

No.

That couldn't have been it. Buffy shook her head trying to get the thought out of her mind. But there was something there. She couldn't deny that.

The fact that Faith was also a slayer had a lot to do with it of course. Here was this girl that Buffy was equally matched against when it came to strength. Not only that but before this day's events Faith was the only other person in the world that knew what it was like to be in Buffy's shoes. She was the only one who went through the same loneliness and the same fears that came along with being a slayer.

Being the only other slayer in the world had a lot to do with why she was drawn to Faith, Buffy was sure of it. Then again…she couldn't recall ever feeling this same connection with Kendra. She had known the girl for a shorter amount of time but as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she had felt the connection with Faith from the beginning.

This was crazy. Was she really thinking about this? She just couldn't believe it. Faith had kissed her and she kissed her back. And then of course it got so much more complicated then that. Buffy couldn't even remember the last time she allowed her bodies desires to grab hold of her like that. Who was she kidding? Of course she could remember the last time she let her body take control.

Spike. She had done the same thing with Spike. As much as she hated to admit it she had never been vary good at controlling her sexual urges. Everyone always says that men only think with they're dicks but sometimes Buffy felt that she wasn't all that much better. She lost her virginity to a vampire when she turned 17 causing him to loss his soul. She had nearly died when she just had to have Riley right then and there at a party her freshman year of college. Then to top it off she had a very unhealthy relationship with a vampire that didn't have a soul just so she could have something to feel.

It was true. Buffy's sex record was plastered with bad decisions. And now, she had yet another to add to the list.

Did this mean she was gay?

No. She would know if she were gay. Or at least she thought she would know. She had always been made to believe that being gay wasn't so much a choice as it was just something you were born with. She once asked Willow when she knew. When it was that she knew for sure that she was gay. Willow just told her that on some level she thought she always knew. Buffy was searching her levels and coming up with nothing.

No she wasn't gay. But then what the hell was that back in the alley way? Why did she let Faith kiss her? Why did she kiss her back? Why did she let her take over her body like that? Why did she enjoy every second of the entire experience?

A million questions were racing through her mind and yet she had no answers for any of them. She was almost relieved when she finally got back to the hospital. She would find her friends and try and take her mind off of the whole thing. Xander would say something to lighten the mood that would make her smile and that would be it. All of these thoughts would fly out the window.

Yeah right.

As she was about to enter the hospital she stopped when her sense of relief suddenly turned to despair. She had been so self-involved with her own current issues that she had almost completely forgotten about Robin. How could she be so selfish? This man was her friend and she practically just shrugged off his death as if it were nothing all because of some stupid make out session that never should have happened in the first place.

And then there was Spike. This very same day she had lost the man she supposedly loved and she wasn't even morning. She was acting as if she didn't even care and Spike deserved better then that. He may have done a lot of horrible things in his life but once he got his soul back he became a good man. He saved the world by ending his own existence.

Man was she a bitch. She hadn't even told her friends about Robin yet. She had been so worried about Faith that she even just left that doctor in the waiting room with a fist sized hole in his wall. Even better yet she had told the doctor that her friends would take care of it. She laid everything on them and didn't even tell them what was going on.

Why did she have to fallow Faith? If she hadn't none of this would have even happened. Faith would have been fine on her own. She would have dealt with her grief in some way or another. She was a big girl who could take care of herself, but no. Buffy just had to go and try and make everything all better. Why did she always have to do that?

She shook her self-deprecating thoughts out of her mind and took a deep breath as she walked into the hospital. When she reached the waiting room she found Giles and Xander standing by the wall examining the hole. Buffy took a deep breath, walked up to the boys and put her hand on Xander's shoulder.

Xander turned around and immediately embraced his best friend. "I'm sorry Buf," he said as he continued to hold her in his arms for a few moments longer. When they finally broke contact Xander kept his hands on Buffy's shoulders compassionately. "I take it the hole in the wall was Faith?"

Buffy nodded her head. "She didn't take it well. I tried to go after her but…" She paused as the memory of what happened flashed back into her mind. "Umm…she took off. I'm sure she'll be back soon though. I think she just needed some air."

"It's completely understandable," Giles commented as he too placed a comforting hand on Buffy's back. She wasn't expecting this. She thought they would be angry with her. She didn't tell them about Robin. She just left. She guessed that she had been so caught up in other things that she had forgotten that something like that wouldn't even faze them. They understood why she didn't tell them and why she left.

Buffy forced a small smile. "Do the others know? Is everyone else ok?"

"They know," Giles responded. "Everyone is obviously upset but none were as close to him as you and Faith. A lot of people died today. It was unfortunate that Principle Wood was added to that count, but I believe everyone is a little numb to the reality of death at the moment."

Buffy nodded her head in understanding. "So…what do we do now?"

Giles raised his eye brows and removed his glasses. "Well I suppose for the moment we should just worry about finding a place to stay for the night. Rona, Callie and Megan are being admitted over night but they won't allow but one person to remain in each room with each of them. Vi insists on staying with Rona and I believe Jamie and Emma have volunteered to stay with the other two."

Buffy nodded her head again. "Right. Good. How many of us does that leave?"

"Well that leaves you, me, Giles, Willow, Kenney, Dawn, Faith, Andrew and, not including the six girls that are staying here, about 15 newly empowered slayers," Xander explained as he counted off on his fingers.

Buffy glanced up at Giles with sad and worried eyes. "Do we even have the money to get hotel rooms?"

"Hopefully we won't need to. Considering this town is just outside of Sunnydale I believe the local motel has shelter being provided by the Red Cross. I was just about to go look into it before you showed up. I'll go see what I can do now."

"Thank you," Buffy said with a small smile that this time was not forced. She crossed her arms over her chest again as she took a deep breath and then released it. Like an itch that just wouldn't go away, Buffy couldn't help but think about where Faith might be right now and if she was ok.

Faith wandered the streets of the unfamiliar town alone, confused and surprisingly angry. She walked down every shady alley way she could find just hoping to come across a vampire or two that she could take out her frustrations on. She would never show it but this day was all just too much for her to handle. First she fought probably the toughest and most important battle she had ever fought in her life. Then the one guy that she had actually somewhat let into her heart died. Finally, to top it all off there was this whole situation with Buffy.

She couldn't figure out what the hell that was back there and how the hell it happened. Sure, she was upset about Robin but she never expected herself to take it out on Buffy…or at least not like that.

The whole situation was baffling. Hitting Buffy was something she expected. She was even surprised that Buffy didn't see that coming. It was just Faith's way. She was always about the hitting when things in her life got ruff.

Now that she was thinking about it even the kissing part was just another way she would deal. She could remember plenty of times when she was upset or angry about something and she just took it out sexually on the nearest hot guy. She had never told anyone this but she had even taken her frustrations out on women sometimes. She had never slept with a woman but there were quite a few drunken make out sessions that she remembered in her past and she was sure there were probably even a few she didn't remember. She never really thought of herself as heterosexual, homosexual or even bisexual. She was just sexual, simple as that. It was just how she'd always been.

This whole situation was different though. She had never kissed or made out with or slept with anyone who was close to her before whether it be a man or a woman. Even though Buffy may not always feel the same way, or ever feel the same way for that matter, Buffy was pretty much the closest friend that Faith had aside from Angel.

For Faith, her confusion wasn't about making out with another girl, it was about making out with Buffy. She had always been attracted to Buffy from the start. There were a few times when she had thought about what it would be like to throw down with the other slayer, especially nights after patrolling, but she wouldn't dream of attempting anything. Buffy was straight and she knew that, plus she didn't want to make things awkward. They worked together and you know what they say about mixing business with pleasure.

No, she never did plan on acting on her impulses with Buffy. And even going past the sexual attraction, if Faith was actually the relationship type she knew it would never work with Buffy. They were polar opposites. They're personalities were completely different. Buffy represented everything that was good and righteous where as Faith represented everything dangerous and reckless.

After a while Faith's attraction had gone away, or at least that's what she thought. But every time she saw Buffy again the attraction hit her like a speeding train coming out of nowhere. Even so she had never expected anything to come out of it. She usually had no trouble containing her urges but for some reason tonight she just let them out.

After kissing Buffy the first time Faith had immediately regretted it. She hadn't even had time to process the fact that Buffy had not only let the kiss happen but kissed her back. The only thing she could think of was how much of a mistake she had just made. Then to her surprise Buffy initiated another kiss. That was when she lost all sense of everything. She let her body take control and pushed everything else out of her mind.

Faith just kept going over everything again and again in her mind but she still couldn't put together what all this meant. She couldn't even believe she was trying to in the first place. This wasn't like her to care about something like this. Usually in a situation like this she would just ignore it and pretend it never happened or even just say "What's done is done," and move on.

Why did she care so much? Why was she even trying to figure out what all this meant? She even began to feel bad because all of her attentions were being focused on the Buffy issue and none were being placed on losing Robin.

Maybe that was it. Buffy had just lost Spike and the two of them definitely had something even though it pained Buffy to admit it. They had very deep feelings for each other and losing him couldn't have been easy. And then there was Faith and Robin. He was the first guy she had slept with that she actually considered having a meaningful relationship with. Now, he was gone. Maybe both of them were just upset about losing people they really cared about and they just tried to take away that grief in a really fucked up way.

Faith was sure that was probably what it was. So then why was she still worrying about all of this and trying to comprehend it? This was all just getting way too confusing and all she really wanted to do at this point was sleep. That was the one thing she was absolutely sure of. The sooner this day ended the happier she would be. Sleep was the answer…at least for now.

It was time to walk back to the hospital. She wasn't finding any vamps and she was tired as hell. When she got back she walked into the waiting room and saw Willow and Kennedy. They spotted her coming they're way and the air in the room immediately became very uncomfortable.

Willow and Kennedy looked at each other as they tried to think of something to say to Faith. They both knew that Faith wasn't the type of girl to want to share her feelings but they felt that they should at least say something. When Faith reached them she just looked at the two awkwardly and simply said, "Hey."

Willow simply gave Faith a half smile and a friendly wave. Kennedy also tried to put on a nice face and lighten the mood of the room. "Saw the hole in the wall. You do nice work."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's ok," Willow responded. "It's been taken care of. Apparently you're not the first one to punch the wall. Although they did say you got the farthest through out of anyone. So if there was a contest you would have totally won," Willow added with a smile.

Faith smiled slightly at the girls attempts to lighten the mood. She was surprised that Willow would even try and make her feel better. Lord knows she didn't deserve it. Of all the Scooby's Faith was sure that Willow was the one that liked her least. It was kind of nice that she would put that aside. "So umm…where's B?"

"She's with Giles and Xander. They're trying to figure out the sleeping arraignments for the night so we hopefully don't have to end up sleeping in the bus."

Faith nodded her head. "Right. Well I'm beat so if you guys don't mind I think I'm gonna go pass out in the bus until everything's all settled."

Kennedy pressed her lips together and let out a small sigh. "Ok. We'll come and get you when we figure everything out."

"Thanks." And then Faith turned around and headed for the bus. Her body was so tired but she feared that her mind wasn't going to let her sleep. Maybe it would and maybe it wouldn't but she was at least going to try.


	3. A Walk Through The Park

A Walk Through The Park

Buffy lay silent on the motel bed in the dark, and just stared at the ceiling. This motel was pretty much the same as the one in Sunnydale. It was kind of crappy but it was a place to sleep. Everyone had gotten settled in and was sleeping. That is everyone except for Buffy.

She turned her head slightly and looked at the young girl sleeping next to her. It had been a very long, depressing day. Dawn had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Buffy wished that she could have done the same. She was exhausted. Her body was trying its hardest to shut down and give her some peace, but her mind was too busy to allow that to happen.

She returned her head to its previous position. After a few more long moments of glancing at the ceiling Buffy decided that trying to sleep was useless. She slowly and carefully climbed out of bed hoping not to wake Dawn. Then she pulled on her jacket and quietly slipped out the door of the motel room.

It was nearly pitch dark outside. The only light that appeared was from a lone parking lot light to the left, and the half moon. Buffy was used to the dark and sometimes even preferred it so she decided to take a walk to the right of her room. She wouldn't go far but taking a walk was the only thing she could think to do at the moment.

The other motel rooms were dark. It appeared that not one tenant was awake at this hour. She put her hands in her jacket pockets and continued to walk passed the rooms and in the direction of what looked like it might be a park. In the distance she could faintly see the outline of a seesaw. As she got closer she also began to see the outline of what looked like it might be a swing set.

This would be perfect, Buffy thought to herself. Now at least she would have something to do. She decided that she would go on the swings for a little while and think. Then, if she was lucky, she would get tired and eventually, finally be ready for sleep.

When she reached the park she went straight for the swing set and picked the swing farthest to the right. There were four swings total and she always liked to be on the end. She got herself started up and then nearly went into a trance as she swung away and let her mind wonder. Buffy was now in her own little world. She was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't even hear the footsteps coming up behind her.

Faith too was unable to sleep. She had been in her room trying as hard as she could to turn off her thoughts and fall asleep but it was no use. She had also decided to take a walk and came across the same park that Buffy had. When Faith approached it, she could see that someone was on the swings and she immediately knew it was Buffy.

Even when Faith was lying on her bed in her room she could tell that Buffy was most likely unable to sleep as well. In the back of her mind she had almost hoped to find the girl along her travels.

For a moment or two, Faith just watched the fellow slayer on the swings. She knew that the same things were going through Buffy's mind that were going through her own. She finally decided to let her presence be known. She could tell that Buffy must be deep in thought since she didn't even hear Faith coming to begin with, so she decided to slip into Buffy's view before saying anything so as not to startle her.

She took a deep breath and then slowly walked towards Buffy and stopped when she was in front of her, but slightly to her right so as not to get kicked in the face. "Couldn't sleep either?"

Buffy immediately slowed her pace as she saw Faith appear in front of her. She then slowed enough to put her feet down and come to a complete stop before replying. She smiled a little and shook her head. "I'm tired as hell…but I've got too much on my mind."

Faith smiled back and nodded her head as she put her hands in her jean pockets. "I hear that. A lot's happened. Makes it hard to sleep."

The other slayer nodded her head as well and then looked to the ground as she tried to find the words she was looking for to say what she wanted to say. "So…I know your not big on the whole 'lets talk about this' kind of thing but…I think we kind of need to talk about…stuff."

Faith rolled her eyes. She knew this was coming. It was Buffy's way. When something big happened she always wanted to talk about it after words, make sense of it, and get everything straightened out. This usually drove Faith nuts. She hated talking things through. She would have been much happier just letting it go and pretending it never happened.

This time was a little different. She still didn't really want to talk about it, only because she knew it would be a really uncomfortable situation, but this time she would. She would play along with what Buffy wanted because deep down she wanted to make sense of things too. She shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah…I guess your right."

A look of shock appeared on Buffy's face. She was expecting to have to fight hard to convince Faith to actually have a conversation about what happened. "Right. So we'll talk then. We'll get everything out in the open and figure everything out."

"Right."

Buffy nodded her head, but neither spoke. She couldn't think of what to say to start the conversation off and she could tell that Faith was in the same position. This whole situation was very uncomfortable and the silence was making it that much worse.

Finally, after a few more moment of uncomfortable silence, Buffy just asked the first question that came to her mind. "Why did you kiss me?"

Faith had really been hoping that wouldn't be what came first. The truth was…she didn't really know. She kind of just did it. She had no idea why she kissed her.

She looked to the ground and closed her eyes. She couldn't seem to bring herself to look at Buffy. "I'm not sure." She let that sink in for a moment and then she was able to bring herself to look at the other girl as she thought of something else. "I wasn't going to ya know. I was going to kick your ass for hitting me."

"You hit me first," Buffy responded with a little bit of anger in her voice.

"I was upset, confused, I didn't mean to…I didn't mean to hit you," Faith said in an angry ton at first and then a little calmer towards the end. "I'm sorry."

Buffy also began to calm down again. "I'm sorry too. I didn't meant to hit you either I just…it's kind of a reflex you know?"

"Yeah. It's ok. I would have done the same thing if you hit me first."

Buffy smiled a little and nodded her head. "Right."

Then the awkward silence was back. Again, neither one really knew what to say next. This time Faith was the first to speak. She took her hands out of her pockets and let them slap to her sides. "Look, I really don't know why I kissed you. I really don't know why you kissed me either. And I really don't know why either of us did any of the other stuff we did to each other. But I don't think that's really what matters here. What's done is done. I think what really matter's is…"

She didn't finish what she was saying. She didn't know if it was because she lost her train of thought, or maybe she didn't really know what she was going to say to begin with, or maybe she knew exactly what she was going to say…but she just didn't want to say it.

"What really matter's is…what did it mean?" Buffy finished for her.

Faith sighed. "Yeah. Exactly." She then proceeded to nervously rub her hands together. Then after a few moments she spoke again. "So…what did it mean?"

Buffy got up from the swing and walked away from it and to the left of Faith. She put her hands on top of her head and pushed her hair back in frustration. She then turned in Faith's direction and tried to think of a response. She was so confused and so frustrated. All she wanted to do was sleep. She was sick of this, she was sick of all of this.

"I don't know Faith. I just don't know. I don't understand why this happened. I never expected something like this to happen. I mean sure when I was upset about stuff in the past I've done stuff like this. When my mom died and Angel came back for a night, I ended up kissing him. When Giles left, I ended up kissing Spike. And now…Spike and Robin and Anya and so many other people are gone and I end up kissing you. In a way it's just my track record. It's just what I do. But I have never kissed a woman before. I've never even thought about it. And you of all people. That's something I really don't understand. We don't get along Faith. You know it. I know it. Everyone around us knows it. I have no idea what any of this means and it's just so frustrating. I just can't take it anymore."

Buffy had tears in her eyes as she finished. She just couldn't handle the confusion anymore. It had been such a hard day and this thing with Faith and trying to figure out what it meant was just the last little thing to push her over the edge. She was breaking down and it took all of the strength she had left to stop from dropping to her knees and crying.

Faith watched Buffy as she went on her rant. When she was finished Faith slowly walked towards the girl until she was only about a foot away from her. She felt bad. Buffy was clearly confused and upset, as was she, but for some reason Faith wanted to hold back her own emotions and comfort Buffy. She wanted to be there for her. She wanted to take away her pain and make everything better. She had never really wanted to do that for anyone before.

She could see that Buffy was fighting back tears. She reached her hand out slowly and gently placed it on the distressed girl's cheek. "Its ok," she simply said softly, "its ok."

Buffy immediately let herself go at Faith's touch. She closed her eyes and leaned a little into Faith's hand longing for the touch as the tears began to slowly fall.

This had all been too much. Buffy was the slayer and she had to be strong. It was part of her duty to not let herself break down. She was never supposed to show vulnerability and she usually never did. For some reason this was different. She, all of the sudden, felt safe with Faith. She felt free to let herself go. She felt like it was ok to cry. It was ok to show her vulnerability this time.

Faith just smiled slightly as Buffy opened herself up to her. She gently brushed away a falling tear from her right cheek with her thumb. She closed the remaining distance between them and placed her other hand on Buffy's left cheek and brushed away the tears on that side as well. She then looked into the girl's eyes for a moment and gave her a comforting smile. Then she gently pulled Buffy's head closer to her own and lightly kissed her forehead. Finally, she pulled the other slayer into a comforting embrace allowing her to cry on her shoulder.

Buffy was finally letting it all out. The day's events had been hard on everyone but it wasn't even just this day. For the past few months Buffy had been responsible for a lot of people's lives. She was used to having to worry about her closest friends and Dawn but she wasn't used to being responsible for the lives of thirty or more young girls. She had always been used to being the decision maker of the group but this year she was forced to be stronger then ever. This year she was truly forced to be a leader.

She had been forced to harden herself and basically just brush off all of the young lives that had been lost and the missions that had failed. Right now at this moment she was finally able to let everything out. Even though the tears started out of confusion about what had happened between her and Faith, it wasn't why she was crying. She cried for the young girls that she had been responsible for losing, she cried for Robin, she even cried for Anya, and of course…she cried for Spike.

For a while she wasn't sure she would ever stop. After holding all of her emotions back for so long she wasn't sure if she would be able to close the flood gates again. But it was ok for now. Faith was there. She had never expected her to be this understanding. Buffy had tried to be her friend for years but she never let her in, but now Faith was there for her when she needed her the most. At that moment Faith became the bright spot in the dark cave that Buffy had been living in for so long.

Faith just held Buffy in her arms not saying a word. She held her up when she could feel Buffy's knees get weak. She stroked her hair during the moments when Buffy cried the hardest. She even kissed the top of her head every once in a while just to let her know that she was still there for her.

Even Faith herself was shocked at her own actions. She had never been this compassionate towards anyone in her whole life. When she was younger she had a tough life and she was conditioned to stand tall and never let herself go. She was taught that crying showed weakness. She was never shown any consideration in her own life so she never showed any to others. But the moment she saw Buffy begin to break down it was as if she was a different person, a new, better person. Knowing exactly what to do to comfort Buffy became an instinct that she never before possessed.

After a long while Buffy's tears finally began to lighten. She slowly began to compose herself. When she finally stopped crying completely she slowly pulled away from Faith's shoulder and looked into her eyes. Buffy's face was drenched with tears but she didn't care. She smiled slightly and then leaned her head in closer to Faith's. She kissed her lips softly and then slowly pulled away. This time there was no awkwardness at all. It felt right this time. "Thank you," Buffy said softly with a small smile.

Faith smiled back comfortingly. She then put her hands on Buffy's cheeks and once again began to dry the tears from her face. When Buffy's face was completely dry, or as dry as could be without a tissue, Faith leaned in and initiated another soft kiss on the lips. When she pulled away the two slayers simply looked into each other's eyes for a few moments. Finally Faith spoke. "I don't know about you…but I think I'm finally ready to go to sleep."

Buffy smiled and sniffled as an after effect of the crying. She nodded her head and laughed a little in response. "I think I'm finally ready too."

Faith smiled back. "Good." She then broke away from they're embrace and then held her hand out for Buffy's. "I'll walk you to your room."

Buffy took Faith's hand and the two started walking. As they walked Buffy brought herself closer to Faith and eventually rested her head on her shoulder. She grunted sleepily. "I can't wait for sleep."

Faith let out a small laugh as she rested her head on top of Buffy's. "I'm with you on that one. You're in the room on the end with Dawn right?"

"Yup. You're about two doors down from mine I think."

"Yup."

"Who did you get stuck with?"

"Oh you didn't hear? I was the lucky one. They tried to get me to sleep in the same room with Andrew but I stuck him with Giles and Xander. You're lookin at the only person who has her own room. Feel free to be jealous."

Buffy lifted her head from Faith's shoulder in shock. "I so am. That just isn't fair."

Faith laughed slightly at Buffy's obvious jealousy. "Yeah well…life isn't fair," she said as she playfully pushed the older slayer with her shoulder, but never letting go of her hand.

As they nearly got to the door to Buffy's motel room, Buffy stopped causing Faith to stop as well. Buffy looked as if she was about to say something but she almost looked too embarrassed to say it. "What is it?" Faith asked with a little hint of worry in her look.

Buffy looked down at the ground nervously before answering. Then she looked at Faith with anticipation. "Do you think that maybe I could sleep with you tonight?" Buffy then realized how much that sounded like an invitation for sex. That was not how she meant it at all. She just didn't want to be alone tonight. Sure, Dawn was in her room but that was different. She just wanted to be with Faith. She just wanted to fall asleep in her arms.

She began to get nervous again as she tried to think of something to say that would subtly let Faith know that what she had just said wasn't meant to be taken in a sexual way. "What I meant was…umm," she was drawing a blank.

Luckily for Buffy, Faith knew that her words were anything but an invite for sex. She smiled, faced Buffy, and took her free hand in hers. "It's ok. I knew what you meant."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief.

Faith laughed a little and then nodded her head towards the door to her room. "Let's go you nut."

Buffy gave a half smile at being called a nut. It was such a silly thing to be called but she liked it. She set free one of Faith's hands to allow her to open the door.

Faith pulled Buffy into the room and they're hands broke apart as they each approached a side of the bed. They climbed in at the same time and pulled the covers over themselves. A little uncomfortable at first, they both stayed on they're own sides of the bed. After a few short moments, however they began to ease closer together.

Buffy lifted her head slightly to glance at Faith and the younger slayer took that opportunity to put her arm out. Buffy smiled as she snuggled closer to Faith and laid her head on her shoulder. She then wrapped her arm around Faith's waist and held her close.

With the arm Buffy was laying on Faith gripped the girl's shoulder and puller her in tighter. Then she proceeded to gently caress the older slayer's shoulder with her hand. Finally, she placed her free arm across her stomach and searched for Buffy's free hand. When she found it they're fingers interlocked and they were pretty much as close together as they could possibly be. Underneath the covers they're legs were even intertwined strengthening the connection.

Both girls were finally at peace.

Buffy let out a large yawn and then glanced up at Faith who was still caressing her arm. "Good night Faith," she said with a peaceful smile on her face.

Faith looked down at Buffy with the same peaceful smile and simply responded, "Good night Buffy."

They then returned they're head's to they're previous positions and closed they're eyes. All of the noise in they're minds that was keeping them awake was finally turned off. They lay there peacefully and within moments, they were both asleep.


	4. The Next Morning

The Next Morning

Faith slowly began to wake up, her eyes still tired. When consciousness began to set in she remembered the previous night's events and wondered if it was just a dream. As she began to regain the feeling in her limbs she could feel her fellow slayer lying in her arms.

It wasn't a dream.

She smiled sleepily and slightly turned her head to look at the sleeping beauty lying next to her. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful. Faith couldn't even believe the feels she was having. When this whole thing started with her and Buffy she thought it was purely a physical thing, but last night things changed. She started to have these feelings that she had never felt before.

At that moment she felt completely content. She felt as if she could lay in that bed next to Buffy forever. Her smile began to fade, however, when thoughts of worry entered her mind. What if when Buffy woke up she immediately regretted everything that had happened? What if she just wanted to forget the whole thing?

These thoughts were very disconcerting but Faith tried not to dwell on it too much. Right now all she wanted to do was just lie there and watch Buffy sleep. She tried not to make a single move, so as not to wake her.

It didn't take long for Buffy to wake up as well. Faith could feel her waking up before she opened her eyes. A rush of anxiety clouded her mind as she awaited Buffy's reaction, once she was awake enough to have one.

For a moment it seemed as if Buffy was confused and unsure of where she was. She opened her eyes, scrunched up her face and looked around groggily without lifting her head. When awareness finally sunk in, she lifted her head slightly and looked up at Faith who welcomed her with a sleepy smile. "Morning."

To Faith's relief, Buffy returned the smile and simply responded, "Good morning." This whole situation was still a little new and strange to Buffy but for some reason it almost felt natural. This felt like where she was supposed to be.

The two slayers looked into each other's eyes and almost simultaneously leaned in toward each other for a good morning kiss. They're lips touched lightly at first and then a little deeper to finish off. When they slowly pulled away the two just looked at each other for a few minutes and didn't say a word. Then reality kicked in. "What time is it?" Buffy asked.

Faith raised her eye brows with curiosity. That was a good question. They had gone to sleep extremely late and with the day they had it was entirely possible that they slept in pretty late. The alarm clock next her bed only flashed the 12:00. It had never been set. She franticly looked around the motel room and her eyes finally settled on a round clock hanging above the television. Her eyes widened in surprise. "1:00…wow."

Buffy sat up quickly and looked in the direction of the clock. "Are you serious?" Then she began to panic. "Oh boy. This is not good!" Buffy got out of the bed and started pacing the room. "Dawn is probably wondering where I am. Why didn't anyone wake us? Oh god, what if someone came in here to wake you and saw us? Oh this is not good."

Faith was a little hurt at first from the obviousness of Buffy not wanting her friends to know about whatever it was that was going on between them. She quickly shrugged it off though. She understood. If anyone were to have come into her room and seen them together there would be lots of questions that not even the two of them knew how to answer yet. "Calm down B. We've got slayer reflexes. I think we would have heard if someone came in. And maybe the others aren't awake yet either. Maybe Dawn is still sleeping."

Buffy stopped her pacing, crossed her arms over her chest, and gave Faith a disbelieving look. "Yeah right. I'm sure they're all still sleeping," she said sarcastically. "And even with my slayer reflexes I don't even think an alarm clock would have woken me up. I haven't slept that good in I can't even remember how long."

Faith smiled inwardly at the thought of having something to do with that. Then she turned her attentions back to the matter at hand. She too got out of bed, slipped on her jean jacket and began putting her shoes on. "Alright. I'm gonna go outside and make sure no one's around. If there isn't, I'll give you the signal to come out so no one sees you comin out of my room. If someone is out there I'll take them away and then you walk out the door." When she finished with her shoes she walked towards the door and got ready to step out.

Buffy nodded her head in understanding and began putting her own shoes on as she waited for Faith to check things out. When Buffy finished putting her shoes on Faith nodded her head and opened the door. She peaked her head out and looked around. It looked as if there was no one in sight but just as she was about to give Buffy the go ahead, she saw Giles coming around the corner. She immediately stepped outside and closed the door behind her as he approached her.

Giles began walking towards Faith as he saw her come out of her room. "Good morning Faith. I trust you had a good night sleep?"

Buffy nearly dropped to the floor in cover when she heard Giles's voice. She kneeled down next to the window and peered out through the shades as she listened and waited.

"Like a baby," Faith responded with a nervous smile. "Sorry I slept in so late. Long day yesterday. Hope I didn't miss anything."

Giles nodded his head with a small smile. "Not at all. It's entirely understandable. I myself slept in until 10:00."

She gave him an impressed look. "Very nice." She knew that for Giles 10:00 was a very late time to sleep in. He had always been an early riser.

Giles smiled proudly and nodded his head at the compliment. "Yes it was rather refreshing. You wouldn't happen to know if Buffy is awake yet would you?"

Faith calmly and coolly responded, "Nope I just got up. You're the first one I've seen all morning. She's rooming with Dawn right? I'm sure she'll know if Buffy's still sleeping or not."

Giles nodded his head. "Yes I'm sure she would. Unfortunately no one has seen Dawn yet this morning either. I assume they're both still asleep."

Inside the motel room Buffy felt as if a weight had been lifted. Dawn was still asleep and they thought she was as well, which meant that no one would be wondering where she was.

Faith nodded her head in agreement. "You're prolly right. So where's the rest of the gang? Don't tell me you're the only one awake."

"No. Xander, Willow, Kennedy and a few of the girls are awake. I believe they're playing some type of card game in the lounge."

"Well what are we waitin for?" Faith asked as she put her hand on Giles's shoulder. "Sounds like we're missin all the fun."

Giles smiled and responded, "Yes of course, I'm sure we are," with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Buffy watched as the two walked away from the room and in the direction of the lounge. When she was sure that they were out of sight she quickly walked out the door and in the direction of her own room. She opened the door quietly to check on her little sister. She was still in the same position she had left her in, fast asleep.

She closed the door softly and slowly began to walk towards the lounge. Even though she knew that no one would suspect anything she didn't want to arrive too closely after Faith. She felt bad having to hide this from her friends but she didn't even know what this was yet. As right as things felt last night and this morning she was still confused about the whole thing. She didn't want anyone else knowing what was going on until her and Faith knew what was going on.

For now Buffy would just go to the lounge, spend time with her friends, and act as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. She just hoped that she would be a good enough actress to be able to do that, especially with Faith right there in the same room.


	5. The Talk

The Talk

When Buffy arrived in the lounge she noticed that, just as Giles had said, Xander, Willow, Kennedy and three of the other girls were all playing a card game. Giles was reading a newspaper in a chair in the corner and some of the other girls were watching the TV. Buffy noticed that the only people missing were Dawn, Andrew, about five or six of the new slayers and…Faith?

Buffy wondered where she had gone. She could have sworn she heard Faith say she was going to the lounge with Giles. Buffy walked up to Xander, Willow and the others and said her good mornings. She then walked to Giles and greeted him as well.

"Buffy there you are. I assume you were still sleeping?" Giles asked.

Buffy nodded her head. "Yeah, I haven't slept this late in a long time."

"Yes well you deserved it," Giles responded with a kind smile. "Is Dawn still asleep?"

"She sure is. The girl sleeps like a rock."

"It appears we were all in need of catching up on our sleep."

Buffy nodded her head. "So," she started, "What about Faith? And Andrew?" she then added quickly to make it seem like she wasn't just interested in Faith's whereabouts. "Are they still sleeping too?"

"Andrew is," Giles answered. "Faith actually just woke up herself a little while ago. I believe she said she was going to get something to eat."

"Smart idea," Buffy agreed as her own stomach began to rumble.

"Well she's right over there in the motel restaurant," Giles showed her. "I'm sure you could catch up with her and get something to eat."

Buffy thought for a moment. It would give them a chance to talk about things and maybe gain some progress on what exactly was happening between the two of them. But, at the same time it could be very awkward and maybe it wasn't time yet to have 'the talk' with her. "Umm…it's ok really. I'm not actually that hungry."

"Well alright then," Giles responded. "Whenever you're up for it I think we should discuss what to do next. There's no rush of course but we are all currently out of a home and there are more slayers out there that won't know what to do with themselves.

Buffy laughed slightly at Giles' attempt at not putting on any pressure. "It's ok Giles. I get the message. We can talk about it now. It's totally fine."

"Are you sure? We could just…"

"Giles," Buffy interrupted, "Its fine."

Giles's expression softened and he simply replied, "Alright."

Giles and Buffy had assembled the Scooby's to talk about where they were going to go from here. The card game stopped and Giles, Buffy, Xander, Willow and Kennedy sat around the table they were playing on.

Eventually Dawn and Andrew woke up and joined in on the conversation. Andrew naturally started getting on everyone's nerves with his comments so poor Dawn had the grueling task of taking him away. Neither one had eaten so Dawn didn't mind too much because she was starving. Buffy was also very hungry and Dawn was kind enough to say that she would bring her sister something back.

Faith also joined the group when she was done eating. She arrived in the lounge area just after Andrew had woken up and right before Dawn had. Buffy tried to play it cool as soon as she came in but she found herself looking over at her and then forcing herself not to and then looking again and going through the same thing a few times before realizing how suspicious, and most likely awkward, it looked. Luckily everyone was so engrossed in conversation that she was pretty sure no one noticed…except for Faith.

Like Buffy, Faith was acting a little nervous and awkward around her as well. She wasn't as bad with the looking and then not looking as Buffy was but she did it a few times uncontrollably none the less. It was an awkward situation but the two of them held it together fairly well.

Everyone sat in the lounge and discussed their future for hours. They talked about where they would live, how they would get money to even get a place to live. They talked about how they were going to find all of the other slayers and what they were going to do when they did actually find them. Even after hours of talking there were no set in stone plans yet, there were merely ideas.

When Andrew and Dawn got back from eating, Kennedy took them and a few of the other girls to the hospital to check up on the slayers who had stayed there the night before. That left the original four Scooby's, plus Faith, to discuss they're ideas and plans for the majority of the time.

After a few hours had passed everyone started to become a little overwhelmed and they decided to take a brake. By this time Kennedy and a couple of the girls had come back from the hospital. Dawn, Andrew and two of the girls that had come along elected to stay at the hospital for a while longer to keep the injured girls company.

For the entire day Willow had still been feeling very drained from the spell she had cast the day before. It was a very large spell and she suspected it would take her a few more days to fully recover from it. So, when the meeting was adjourned, Willow decided to go back to her room and take a nap.

As painful as it was to do so, Giles declared that he would take the girls to the local mall to get them some cloths. Buffy offered to do it, since she too needed some cloths and since she knew that Giles hated shopping, but he insisted that she and Faith relax. For years they had been the chosen two and Giles insisted that it was they're time to sit back and rest.

They would only be going for a few outfits, it was all they could afford. Giles and Xander were also going to pick up Dawn and Andrew at the hospital. Dawn knew Buffy's sizes and knew what she liked so she was confident that her sister would be able to pick out something decent for her to wear. Faith told Xander her sizes and he promised that he would have Dawn pick her out a few things as well.

Kennedy wanted to stay with Willow incase she needed anything but Willow assured her that she would be fine and that she needed to go to pick out cloths for the both of them. The thought of getting to pick out her girlfriends cloths was actually kind of exciting for Kennedy so she finally gave in and joined the others.

Everyone piled into the bus and Xander drove them away leaving a napping Willow, and Buffy and Faith behind. The two slayers exchanged glances at each other after watching the bus pull away. This would be they're best opportunity to talk. They probably wouldn't get a better time then this but the two of them just stood there, neither one really knowing what to say.

"So," Buffy finally started, "I guess this would probably be the perfect opportunity to umm…talk…about…stuff."

Faith nodded her head uncomfortably. "Yeah, guess so." Buffy nodded her head back and the two proceeded to stand there uneasily not speaking a word. "So you wanna go to my room or somethin? Just so we have a place to sit and stuff."

"Yeah, sure," Buffy responded, "That's probably a good idea."

The two girls then took a silent walk towards Faith's room. When they got to the door Faith unlocked it and motioned for Buffy to walk in. She did so and Faith fallowed, closing the door behind her. When in the room Buffy sat down on the corner of the end of the bed. Faith looked around for a moment and then finally settled on the other corner of the end of the bed not wanting to sit too close and make things even more uncomfortable then they already were.

For a little while they both just sat there, neither one really knowing where to start. Finally Buffy spoke up. "So I guess one of us should say something here."

Faith shook her head. "I'm sorry B. This isn't easy for me. You know me pretty well. I'm not really one to spill my guts about how I'm feeling yah know?"

"Ok," Buffy responded calmly.

Last night Faith had been the cool and collected one. Buffy was upset and confused and Faith was there for her. She wouldn't let herself break down because she knew she had to be there for Buffy. This time, it was Buffy's turn. This time Buffy had to be the strong one, the one to get the conversation going.

"This isn't easy for me either, but I'll go first," Buffy continued. "I do think we really need to talk about this, figure things out."

Faith nodded her head in agreement and then let Buffy continue.

"Ok, I'm not really sure what's going on here, but I know that there is something going on here. And I know that doesn't make any sense really and I'm trying to make sense of it but its hard…to…make sense of." She then buried her face in her hands and made an "uhg" noise. "I'm sorry. This is coming out all wrong."

Faith smiled and moved a little closer so that she could put a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder. "It's cool. You're trying. That's a start right?"

Buffy lifted her head at Faith's touch and the sound of her voice. She didn't know how but she instantly felt a little better. She smiled back at the other slayer. "See. Like that, right there."

"What?" Faith asked feeling very confused. She had no idea what Buffy was referring to.

Buffy sent Faith a caring smile and then began to explain. "You. The feel of your hand on my shoulder, the sound of your voice, it makes me feel…calmer, better. I don't know where that came from, but its there." She too then began moving a little closer to Faith so that now they were sitting so close together that they're sides were nearly touching.

"It's like…I'm seeing you differently now," Buffy continued. "When I see you…when I'm around you…I can't even really explain it. And last night…just falling asleep in your arms I felt…content. I felt like it was where I was supposed to be, where I was meant to be."

Faith smiled happily at the other slayer as she slowly reached her hand to Buffy's hair and gently tucked a few stray hairs safely behind her ear. "I know the feeling."

"So last night…you were right there with me?"

Faith slowly nodded her head. "Yeah…I was." Then she took her hand away from Buffy's hair as if she was suddenly becoming self-conscious. Then she shyly responded, "I still am."

Buffy smiled and let out a sigh of relief that she didn't even know she had been holding. She then leaned her head up against Faith's. She found the younger slayer's hands on her lap and held them both in her own.

For a moment they were both silent, letting the things that were just said sink in. Then Buffy took a deep breath and broke the silence. "So…what does this mean? Where do we go from here?"

The two girls lifted they're heads from one another's and looked into each others eyes. "I'm not sure, but we don't have to define it now and figure everything out now right? I know how you feel, and you know how I feel. We can take this one step at a time, see where things go."

Buffy smiled. "That sounds good."

Faith smiled back at the older slayer and for a few moments the two just became lost in each other's eyes. Then, as if they were magnets being pulled together, they both began to lean in towards each other slowly. They're lips met softly at first and then the second kiss was met with a little more passion. They stopped for a moment, looked into each other's eyes, and then kissed once again.

They're interlocking hands broke apart. Faith's found they're way up to gently hold Buffy's cheeks while Buffy's hands rested on Faith's waist. The kiss deepened as Buffy's mouth opened invitingly for Faith's tong. A soft and innocent kiss was now turning into something more. The passion and lust between the two slayers was rising and neither one appeared to be fighting it.

To be continued…


	6. Talk Time Is Over

Talk Time Is Over

Faith smiled back at the older slayer and for a few moments the two just became lost in each other's eyes. Then, as if they were magnets being pulled together, they both began to lean in towards each other slowly. They're lips met softly at first and then the second kiss was met with a little more passion. They stopped for a moment, looked into each other's eyes, and then kissed once again.

They're interlocking hands broke apart. Faith's found they're way up to gently hold Buffy's cheeks while Buffy's hands rested on Faith's waist. The kiss deepened as Buffy's mouth opened invitingly for Faith's tong. A soft and innocent kiss was now turning into something more. The passion and lust between the two slayers was rising and neither one appeared to be fighting it.

Then Buffy pulled away from the kiss. "I'm sorry. I just…I don't know if this is such a good idea. I mean I know we both just admitted that we have feeling for each other but I'm still really confused about this whole thing. I mean I never saw this coming. I wasn't expecting something like this to happen."

Faith sighed in frustration. She was just starting to get in the zone and she hated being stopped when she was in the zone. And yet, she understood Buffy's reason for stopping. She was still new to this whole, having feelings for the person you're physically attracted to, thing. She wanted Buffy very badly but she also didn't want to screw anything up.

"I know," Faith responded. "I wasn't expecting it either. But it happened. I mean we can't just ignore it right?"

Buffy knew that Faith was right but she was still very confused. Despite what her mind was telling her, her body was just saying go for it. Everything inside her was telling her that this was right but at the same time her mind was jumbled with confusion.

"Right," Buffy agreed softly. "I just think maybe we should take things slow. One step at a time, like you said."

Realization dawned on Faith at that moment. Buffy was afraid. She was afraid that the old Faith was still in there. She was afraid that Faith would sleep with her, get what she wanted from her, and then that would be it. She hated herself for that. She had messed up so many things in her past and she knew that no matter what she did in the present and in the future people, Buffy, would still see her past.

At that moment of realization Faith looked to the ground in shame. She knew she'd changed. She was a different person now but she had no idea how she was going to convince Buffy of that fact. So instead of trying, she said nothing. She didn't really know what she could say.

Buffy saw right through the younger slayer. She quickly realized that she had unintentionally struck a nerve. She tried to cover up her mistake. "Hey," she said softly as she gently grasped the dark haired girl's chin and brought her eyes to meet her own. "I didn't mean that how you think I meant it. All I was trying to say is that I can't handle things moving too fast right now. I don't think you can either. I don't want this thing we have between us to be just a physical thing. I want more then that."

Buffy slowly retracted her hand as she realized with a little shock what she'd just said. Ever since last night after all of the events that had happened she'd been trying to figure out what it all meant. Was it just a physical thing? Was there some kind of connection forming? Was it all just an awkward mistake? A Freudian slip appeared to have just answered those questions. Subconsciously she had known it all along. She wanted to be with Faith. It wasn't just physical, there was a connection, and it wasn't a mistake.

Faith was somewhat shocked. She wasn't used to hearing something like this and Buffy was the last person she would have ever expected to say those words. Buffy said she had never expected this to happen but it was even more of a shock to Faith. After all of the hell that Faith put Buffy through she always thought that she'd be lucky if Buffy was ever even her friend again, let alone something more.

Faith began to calm down a little after that. She could see it in Buffy's eyes. She wanted to be with her. There was no reason to have any doubts. She had nothing to worry about.

"You're right," Faith responded, "I understand." She wanted to say more but she was feeling vulnerable again. Buffy had pretty much just put her heart out on her sleeve. She'd just walked to the edge of the cliff and Faith couldn't seem to bring herself to walk out to that edge and join her.

Finally, she did manage to say something. "It's just…I don't wanna mess this up, B."

Buffy smiled. She knew it took a lot for Faith to say even just that. Faith had always guarded herself from everything, including emotions. She never cared about anything or anyone. She worried about number one and that was it. There was no room for worrying about anyone else. She never trusted men, she never trusted anyone. Buffy knew it would take time but she could already tell that it was possible for Faith to break that habit, maybe even let her guard down long enough to care about someone, to care about her.

Buffy simply responded, "I know, and you won't. You've changed Faith, I know you don't think I believe that, but I do." Suddenly the clouds in Buffy's mind were lifting, the confusion was clearing. She smiled and laughed a little. "All of this is so crazy. It makes no sense. But at the same time it feels more right then anything else I've felt in a long time."

She smiled again and then slowly and confidently closed the distance between she and her fellow slayer. To Faith's surprise Buffy leaned in and kissed her with such passion that if she were standing Buffy would have literally knocked her off her feet. Buffy continued kissing her as her hands found they're way to Faith's chest. She slipped her hands underneath each side of Faith's jean jacket and gently pushed it off of both shoulders.

Faith was all of the sudden more confused then she had been before. Buffy had just stopped they're make out session and told her that she wanted to take things slow, and now she was taking off Faith's jacket which was a very clear indication that there was some R rated stuff that was about to go down, maybe even more.

Despite her confusion she helped Buffy by taking her jacket off the rest of the way. She continued to allow the slayer to completely take over her mouth as she became very caught up in the moment. Finally, after some gathering together of control, she managed to pull herself away from the older slayer for a moment.

"Wait, Buffy I'm confused." And she was. She wanted this more then anything but she wasn't lying before when she said she didn't want to mess this up. If Buffy was testing her she couldn't let her hormones make her fail that test. "I thought you wanted to take things slow. You don't have to prove anything to me. I understand and I'm completely willing to take things slow if that's what you want."

Buffy was moved by Faith's actions. She really had changed. She smiled. "I know Faith, but it's ok. Things are suddenly feeling a lot clearer. This is what I want."

"You're sure about this?"

Buffy gave Faith the kind of smile that would assure her that there wasn't a single doubt in her mind. Then she slowly leaned in and gently kissed Faith on her soft lips. Then she slowly pulled away and looked Faith directly in her eyes as she held her close with her arms around her neck. "I'm sure."

That was more then enough to let Faith know that Buffy was serious. She smiled at the blond slayer with a kind of happiness she hadn't felt in a long while. This was Buffy's way of saying she trusted her. Faith knew that the older slayer would never go through with this if she didn't trust that Faith would still be right there by her side when it was over, holding her in her arms.

It made Faith feel special and she knew that this would be different from anything else she'd ever felt before. She felt like this was going to be her first time, and in many ways it was.

Warning: This is where the M rating comes in. The rest of this chapter will contain graphic, same sex sexual content. For those of you just reading this story looking for some written girl on girl porn or just written porn in general, this is not the story for you. While there will be graphic sexual situations in the rest of this chapter it is not meant to be viewed as pornography. The rest of this chapter is meant to be a tasteful and romantic view of sex in which I feel is important to the story line. Those of you readers who may be uncomfortable with this, I would advise you to stop reading now.

With the assurance that this was what Buffy really wanted, Faith leaned in towards her and began kissing her softly but passionately. Buffy's arms were still around Faith's neck while Faith's arms were tightly secured on Buffy's waist.

They started out slow by simply enjoying soft, tender kisses. Then Faith slowly moved her hands from Buffy's waist to the bottom of her shirt. She gently reached her hands under Buffy's shirt. Buffy, understanding the gesture, then proceeded to lift her arms so that Faith could easily lift her shirt off of her body.

This was all new territory for Faith. She was used to everything being quick. The cloths came off fast, the kisses were ruff, and she got down to business as quick as humanly possible. With Buffy though, she knew she should take things slow. She wanted to take things slow. It was different with Buffy. She wanted to enjoy every minute of being with her. She wanted to feel everything.

However, it was somewhat difficult for Faith to control herself. She took a moment to take in the sight before her. Buffy wasn't even half naked yet and Faith was already feeling a lust for her that was stronger then any she could remember feeling before. After taking in the sight of Buffy kneeling there on her bed in just her jeans and a silk blue bra she forced herself to look into Buffy's eyes rather then at her body. She smiled and kissed her again.

Buffy returned the smile and brought her hands to Faith's cheeks as she deepened the kiss. As she continued kissing her she too moved her hands to the bottom of Faith's shirt. She then copies what Faith had done and slowly slipped the younger slayer's shirt off over her head.

The lust was rising even more now and as much as both slayers tried to take things slow it was becoming more and more difficult with every motion. Faith slowly moved in closer to Buffy as they continued to kiss each other deeply and passionately. In response to this Buffy slowly moved backwards to the head of the bed and laid her head down on the pillow as Faith positioned herself on top of her slayer.

Faith broke the kiss as her mouth traveled to Buffy's neck which she proceeded to tenderly kiss in all the right places. Buffy was already beginning to breath heavy from the pleasure she was receiving. Her neck was one of her most tender spots and, just as she had in the alley way the night before, Faith was finding all the right places to make Buffy squirm.

Faith took great satisfaction in Buffy's writhing body at her touch. As she kept up the work on Buffy's neck her left hand traveled from the side of Buffy's right breast down to her stomach, and then ultimately to the button of her jeans while her right hand continued to hold her body up slightly above Buffy's.

She worked expertly on the button all the while never leaving Buffy's neck unattended. Buffy was extremely impressed and to add to her amazement Faith easily undid the button and zipper of her pants within seconds. Buffy didn't think it was possible this early in the game but her excitement was already beginning to reach its peak.

Faith slowly moved her kisses down Buffy's body while at the same time gently pulling her jeans down. From just under her neck, to in between her breasts, to just under her ribs, to her bellybutton, to just above her matching silk blue panties, Faith's kisses moved down until she had the distance to slip off Buffy's jeans after quickly removing her shoes and socks.

The dark slayer then slowly moved herself back up, caressing Buffy's sides with both hands as she moved. She moved herself back to her previous position taking over the other slayers mouth while holding herself up slightly above her with both arms.

While Buffy allowed Faith to explore every inch of her mouth she moved both hands to the opening of the younger slayer's jeans. She swiftly but gently unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and then slowly pushed them off just enough so that they were only off of her backside revealing only that, and her midnight black thong. Rather then attempting to take Faith's jeans off the rest of the way, Buffy's hands simply rested on the other slayers hind side. Each hand grasping each cheek as she further deepened they're kisses.

As difficult as it was to drag herself away, Faith managed to briefly pull away from the other slayer long enough to take her jeans off the rest of the way. She had already kicked her shoes off and she hadn't been wearing any socks. This left both slayers in nothing but they're bras and panties.

Neither slayer knew why, but as Faith repositioned herself on top of Buffy they found that both of them were shaking. It wasn't cold, so that wasn't it. They weren't scared either. They'd both been in this position before, just not with a member of the same sex. Buffy finally just assumed that it was nerves. For some reason this felt so important, so right. Buffy figured that that was why it was making both of them so nervous.

She could see in Faith's eyes that she hadn't figured that out yet so she tried to collect herself and calm herself down. She smiled up at the younger slayer and cupped her chin with both hands. "It's ok," she said softly. Then she slowly moved backwards to slightly sit up. Faith wasn't exactly sure what she was doing but she slowly moved back to wait and see.

Buffy's expression turned completely serious. Her eyes never left Faith's as she slowly reached both hands behind her back and unclipped her bra. She then gently slipped it off and placed it over the side of the bed. The whole time they're gaze never dropped. The older slayer then finished the job by slipping off her panties as well. She now laid there completely naked inviting Faith to take full advantage of that fact.

Faith just stood there for a moment, unable to move. She started breathing heavier as she continued to quiver. She was more nervous then she ever imagined she would be. At that moment Buffy sat up and slowly moved in to tenderly kiss Faith's perfect lips. This seemed to snap her out of her catatonic state.

As the dark haired slayer returned Buffy's kiss she laid the naked slayer down on the bed gently caressing her breasts while continuing the kiss. She then moved her attentions back to Buffy's neck, then just under it and then finally her mouth took the place of her hands on the slayer's breasts.

Buffy's breathing intensified as Faith caressed her breasts with her tong and lips. It felt so good and at the same time Buffy knew this was just the start. Even though she knew there was much more to come the anticipation was heightening her pleasure once again. To her disbelief she had been close to climax earlier on and once again to her surprise she was nearing it again.

The older slayer began to moan slightly as Faith increased the pleasure by focusing on her nipples, tenderly nibbling on them. While she did this, her right hand was slowly traveling to Buffy's thigh. Although she had never been with another woman before, she did have some expertise in this area. Sometimes the guys she'd been with just couldn't get it done. She was a firm believer in the saying, "if you can't get it done right, do it yourself."

Faith slowly and gently caressed Buffy's folds with her fingers teasingly. The slayer took in a deep breath of anticipation. Finally, Faith granted her wish and slipped her middle finger deep into Buffy's core. Her moaning immediately increased as Faith continued to work her finger expertly, instantly finding that perfect spot.

When the younger slayer could tell that Buffy was on the brink of her release, she decided to turn up the heat. The other slayer was breathing heavily and bracing herself with both arms on the bed. Faith pulled her mouth away from Buffy's chest, she wanted to see her beautiful face and enjoy what she was causing. She watched the girl's writhing body as she slipped in a second finger and gently increased the pass.

After that, it didn't take long for Buffy to burst. Faith then slipped her fingers out from inside her and proceeded to lie down next to Buffy. She took the light haired slayer into her arms as they both tried to steady their breathing. Buffy turned and rested her head on Faith's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

They had the covers from the bed over them now. Faith looked down at the older slayer and smiled. She wasn't even the one who had just gotten a happy and yet she felt completely content. She was beaming from ear to ear just from the thought of how much she had just pleasured her counterpart.

She was sure that Buffy would be returning the favor as soon as she composed herself but Faith realized that she really wouldn't mind if she didn't. Usually when Faith was with a man she wouldn't be satisfied with him until he completely fulfilled her needs. She wasn't happy unless she got a happy. But again, this was different.

Buffy was pleasantly numb for a little while. She wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting but this definitely wasn't it. She had only recently even ever thought about what it would be like if she slept with Faith. She figured it would probably be ruff and fast passed. That was just the kind of girl Faith was. But what Buffy just experienced was gentle and passionate. The rouge slayer really had changed a lot more then Buffy had even realized.

Once the senior slayer caught her breath and regained her strength she fully intended to prove to her partner how much that change for the better meant to her. She sat up slightly and raised her head to softly kiss the woman next to her. "You," she started as she kissed the younger slayer once again, "Are amazing."

Faith smiled at the compliment. "I like to think so," she responded arrogantly.

Buffy rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "Well I'm glad you're so modest about it," she responded sarcastically. The light haired slayer then leaned in closer for another gentle kiss. She then deepened the kiss and slowly reached her hands behind the dark slayer's back in search of the clasp of her bra.

Faith tried to suppress a smile as she did not want to break the kiss. She could tell that her slayer was recovered, and now it was time for round two.


	7. Pleasantly Numb

Pleasantly Numb

Both slayers had bright smiles on they're faces as they gasped for air. Although they were both a little tired there was no doubt that the two could still go on a lot longer if they wanted to.

Round two was a complete success, Buffy thought to herself. It took a little more effort on Buffy's part to get the job done fully but she was happy to do it. She never thought she could have that much fun focusing purely on the needs of her partner. But fun was definitely had.

Now the two women simply lay in the bed just enjoying each other's company as they caught they're breath. Like they had done the night before, they're bodies were as close together as they could be. This time Faith's head rested on Buffy's shoulder. They're arms wrapped around each other and legs entwined under the covers.

"Now it's definitely my turn to give you you're props B," Faith said with a smile on her face.

Buffy smiled as well. She kissed the top of Faith's head and then brought a hand up to stroke her dark hair. "Please do."

The younger slayer laughed a little and closed her eyes in contentment. There was nothing on earth that could ruin her good mood. Just as she was about to let her slayer know how wonderful she was, she heard a ringing noise. It took her a second to realize what it was but then remembered that Buffy had a cell phone.

Faith lifted her head from Buffy's shoulders to allow her to get up. The older slayer sat up and leaned over the side of the bed to grab her pants. "It's probably Giles or Dawn," she guessed. The cell phone continued to ring as she reached into her pants pocket. She pulled out the phone, flipped it open and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Dawn, what's up?" Buffy asked. The slayer listened to her sister explain why she was calling. "Umm…I'm actually not with Faith right now. I decided Willow's idea was the best…with the napping and all. No you didn't wake me up," she added quickly. "I actually woke up a little while ago and I was just about to get out of bed."

The slayer then glanced over at the reason why she hadn't gotten out of bed yet and smiled. Faith bit her lower lip and smiled back at her as the other slayer continued to listen to her sister on the other line of the phone. "Good thinking," Buffy responded into the phone. "I'll go see if I can find her and then I'll have her give you a call. Thanks Dawn. I'll see you soon. Bye," she said as she concluded the conversation.

Buffy flipped the cell phone closed to end the call. She continued to hold the phone in her hand as she moved back to her horizontal position on the bed. She wrapped her arm around Faith and gently rested her head on the slayer's stomach. Then she grumbled objectionably. "I think that means we're going to have to get up."

Faith grimaced. "What's the sitch?"

"They've been shopping for a while, found some good stuff but Dawn realized that she doesn't have your bra and underwear sizes," Buffy explained. "She said it's weird enough picking those things out for me and it would be even weirder picking them out for you but she also found the thought of you wearing the same underwear for more then two days in a row completely disgusting."

Faith laughed as she pictured Dawn telling all of this to her big sister. It would have been funny regardless but it was just a little bit funnier in light of resent events that occurred between her and the young girl's older sister.

Buffy laughed a little too and then continued. "So, she figured as awkward as it might be, you would appreciate having clean undergarments to wear."

Faith smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Well the kid has a point."

"That's what I said," Buffy agreed. "So I told her I would find you and have you give her a call back to let her know your sizes."

The dark slayer laughed again. "It's funny isn't it?"

Buffy lifted her head slightly and looked up at her. "What?"

"That you could have easily told her my sizes right then and there," she answered with a suggestive smile.

Buffy just responded to that with a smile and a tender kiss. That was a perfectly good response for Faith. She then reached for the phone in Buffy's hand. "I guess I should call her back then. Or wait a few minutes and then call."

The senior slayer handed her the phone. "Yeah, you probably should, but first…" she started to say. "I think we should talk about what we're going to tell people."

Faith's face turned serious. She could see in Buffy's expression that this was very important to her. These people were Buffy's family, she'd been with them for a long time. "Ok," Faith agreed.

A look of worry creased Buffy's features before she responded. "Ok, please don't take this the wrong way but…I'd like it if we didn't tell any of them anything right now." Faith could tell by the look on Buffy's face that she was worried that this would hurt her feelings.

She quickly continued so as to explain herself fully before letting her fellow slayer think the wrong thing. "This has just all been happening so fast and with everything that's going on right now I think it would just be too confusing to tell them. I think we need to give this some more time before we tell them about us. Wait until the shock of yesterday dies down a little and we actually figure out what we're all going to do with the rest of our lives."

Faith's first instinct was to assume that all of what Buffy was saying was just a nice way of saying that she was ashamed to tell anyone that they were together now. Or, the much scarier thought was that Buffy didn't even think this was going to work out so it was pointless to tell her friends about something that would be over soon anyway. She pushed away both thoughts though as she looked into her slayer's eyes and really listened to her words. She was right. It was just too soon and there was just too much other stuff to deal with right now.

The slayer nodded her head and smiled. "Sounds like a plan, B. And you're right, there's a lot going on. They wouldn't really understand."

"Exactly," Buffy said with a smile. She was glad that Faith understood.

Faith leaned forward and kissed the top of Buffy's head. "Mums the word," she confirmed. "No one will know until we're ready for them to know." Buffy smiled and kissed Faith gratefully.

"Alright," Faith said as she pulled away from the kiss. "You think you can keep your hands off me long enough for me to make this call to your sister?" she challenged.

Buffy sent her a sly smile. "I'm not making any promises."

Faith simply shook her head at the slayer and then opened the cell phone and dialed Dawn's number.

When Dawn, Giles, Xander, Kennedy and the others got back from they're shopping trip it was close to dinner time. At that point Buffy and Faith were fully clothed and separated into they're own rooms. Rather then everyone having dinner all together they tried they're best to find food as cheap as they could individually. After dinner, when everyone was at the motel at the same time they all assembled in the lounge once again as they had early that afternoon.

It was a relaxing time and everyone was simply just kicking back and enjoying each others company. Pretty much everyone was sitting in front of the TV aside from Giles, Willow, Buffy and Kennedy. Rather then watching TV the four of them were seated at a small table drinking tea and chatting.

Giles, Willow and Kennedy were deep in conversation, about what, Buffy wasn't sure. As much as she tried not to she couldn't help but steal a glance or two, or ten, Faith's way. She also couldn't seem to stop smiling. The slayer couldn't even remember the last time she was this happy. She had just averted another apocalypse, there were now tons of girls that could help her with her calling, she could finally have what resembled a normal life, and she was pretty sure she was beginning to start a relationship.

Buffy had been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize she was being spoken to. "Earth to Buffy," she heard Kennedy say.

She shook her head and turned to face her friends. "What…oh…sorry. I guess I went somewhere else for a second there," Buffy responded.

"What were you lookin at?" Willow asked as she turned towards the group watching TV to try and figure out what her friend was staring at.

That made Buffy realize how careless she was being by noticeably staring at Faith. Luckily though, the dark haired slayer was surrounded by other people so it was clearly not obvious what, or who, exactly she was focusing on. "Oh…nothing really. I was just staring out into space."

Kennedy and Giles accepted Buffy's answer and then continued with they're conversation. Willow, however, wasn't giving up that easily. "What's up with you tonight Buffy?" the red head asked. "You've had this smile on your face all night like you won the lottery or something."

Buffy tried to fight back a blush. She wasn't exactly sure how she should respond to that. She knew that Faith was the main reason for her smile but she couldn't tell her best friend that. She just wasn't ready. When Willow sent Buffy a confused look she started to realize something that made her extremely paranoid. 'What if she knows?' Buffy thought to herself. 'She's pretty much a goddess now so she can probably read minds and stuff.'

Willow continued to give her friend a confused glance. "Buffy? Did you leave us again?" she said with a small laugh. "What's going on with you?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She was being overly paranoid. Willow didn't suspect a thing, she couldn't read her mind, and she was just being crazy, obsessed Buffy. "Sorry Will. I'm not really sure what's going on with me," she lied. "I guess I'm just happy it's over. Everything with the first is taken care of and now I'm not the only one responsible for saving the world anymore. I guess that's why I've been so happy."

The witch smiled at her best friend. "Well good then. You should be happy and I'm glad that you're happy."

"Thanks Will," Buffy said as she put her arm around her friend and smiled.

"I figured that was probably it, but for a second there it almost seemed like your 'new boyfriend' smile," Willow responded. "I guess my best friend expression reading skills are a little off."

Wow, Buffy thought to herself, she really does know me well. She let out a small, nervous laugh. "Nope, just the old run of the mill 'happy to be alive' smile is all," she covered up. She knew she wasn't a very good liar so rather then risk Willow asking more questions and realizing she was hiding something she decided to get out of there.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Buffy said. Then she smiled at her friend, stood up and left the table. As she started to walk to the bathroom she quickly glanced at Faith and saw that she was watching her walk away. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the other slayer say something to Xander and Dawn, and then stand up and walk in the same direction she was walking.

This made Buffy smile. Ever since what had happened earlier that afternoon all she wanted to do was be in Faith's arms. She wanted to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her. Once she rounded the corner and was out of view she stopped and waited for the younger slayer.

As Faith walked towards the hallway to the bathrooms she couldn't hold back her enormous smile. She had been waiting for Buffy to leave the room all night so that she could fallow her and hopefully sneak a kiss, or even just to be able to touch her soft skin. When she rounded the corner she found that she wasn't the only one hoping.

Almost immediately after the corner was cleared Buffy pinned her fellow slayer against the wall and passionately pressed her mouth to hers. When they pulled away the taller slayer put her hands on the shorter one's face and smiled. "Damn, I've been waitin for that all night, B."

Buffy smiled back and leaned into Faith's touch. "Me too."

The two slayers then kissed again, this time softer and gentler. When they pulled away they simply leaned they're forehead's against each other's, closed they're eyes and smiled. After a few moments Buffy spoke. "So umm…I was thinking. Maybe tonight, after Dawn goes to bed, I could come over to you're room." As the older slayer said this she flashed Faith a pleading smile while wrapping her arms tightly around the girl's waist.

Faith smiled and rolled her eyes. She was absolutely loving this. There was nothing that could bring down her mood. She playfully bit her lower lip and then responded, "I think that can be arranged."

The other slayer smiled delightfully and kissed her dark haired beauty in thanks.


	8. A New Life

A New Life

It had been just about two months since the gang had stopped The First and in turn destroyed the town of Sunnydale. Most of the potentials, now slayers, had gone back to they're homes. The Scooby gang, along with the new slayers that stayed with them, headed to Cleveland to start they're new lives, yet again, on a hellmouth.

At first, the gang was extremely worried about where they were going to live and how they were going to get the money to pay for this place. Most of them had some savings in the bank but none of them had nearly enough needed to buy a home or even just to rent an apartment. After some digging around, however, Giles was able to solve this problem.

After the disaster in Sunnydale that caused the town itself to literally fall off the map, insurance companies were forced to pay hefty amounts of insurance money to all home owners of Sunnydale, California. Unfortunately, Buffy was the only member of the Scooby gang to benefit from this since she was the only one who actually owned a home. That insurance money helped a great deal, but it wasn't enough. Since Buffy's house had never been fully paid off, the insurance check wasn't nearly as much as she'd been hoping for.

Despite the insurance let down, after some more digging, Giles was able to find a way to save all of they're butts. Even though The First had had The Council blown up, Giles had learned that quite a few members survived. Nearly all of these members agreed to invest in an apartment complex in Cleveland to be used as a safe house for slayers. This was also the reason they ended up in Cleveland in the first place. It was a condition for the investment. The Council members wanted slayer central to be located in a town with a hellmouth.

The apartment complex was brand new so there were no previous tenants. It had a fair amount of rooms and the gang thought about possibly renting out rooms to outside people but later came to the conclusion that this wasn't the best idea. They knew that there would be a significant amount of newly empowered slayers that would be seeking them out looking for answers and possibly a place to stay.

For now though, there were plenty of empty apartments. Buffy and Dawn finally had they're own place again after having to share they're home with dozens of people back in Sunnydale. Giles also had his own place once again, which he was extremely happy about. He thought about going back to England but realized that he was needed more in Ohio. He would never admit it but it felt good to be needed again.

Kennedy hadn't even thought twice about what she was going to do. She could have gone back home to her mansion and her rich brat life but she knew that none of that really mattered anymore. She'd seen and been through too much to go back to that now, and she actually didn't even want to anyway. She loved being a slayer and even more then that, she loved Willow.

They hadn't been together very long but the slayer was already feeling that she'd be lost without her goddess. After the battle with The First, the two had gotten even closer then they'd been before. They now shared an apartment together.

Xander, like Giles, wanted his own place as well but unfortunately for him it didn't turn out that way. Andrew finally felt like he was part of the group. Although he was obviously no longer they're prisoner he didn't really have any place else to go so he was ecstatic when Buffy said that he could stay with them. Even though they told him that he could have his own apartment, he didn't really want to live alone so he ended up convincing Xander to be his roomy.

There were only about ten new slayers that actually went to Cleveland instead of going home. Since these girls were among the older of the group Buffy and Giles allowed them to have places of they're own without adult supervision. Most of them were in the range of 17-years-old to 19-years-old so they felt that they were mature enough. Plus, they knew that they were right there in the same building if they were needed or if anything were to happen.

All of the girls split up into groups of two's in they're apartments. Among these girls was Rona and Vi who had they're own apartment. Ever since the battle the two had become very close friends and were pretty much inseparable.

After the big battle in Sunnydale, Buffy had a little talk with her military ex-boyfriend. Riley agreed that Faith's talents would be wasted in jail. He trusted that if Buffy felt she had reformed then she really did. With that in mind, Riley was able to pull some strings and get rid of the rouge slayer's record.

Thus, the only other person besides Giles that had they're own apartment was Faith. Faith having her own place made it a lot easier to have some alone time with her new girlfriend. This was an especially good thing considering they're relationship was still a secret.

Most of the time it didn't really bother Faith that Buffy still wanted to keep they're relationship a secret. Most of the time she didn't really care as long as she could be with her slayer. Those nights when they fell asleep in each other's arms were all that mattered to the younger slayer. During those moments she could care less who knew or who didn't know. It just didn't matter.

However, there were other times when it bothered her. There were times when she wondered why after being together for two months Buffy still didn't want anyone to know. Several times she told Buffy how she felt but every time she brought it up they just ended up arguing, which was something Faith really hated to do.

Right now was one of those times that it really bothered Faith. It was hard with everyone around all the time for the two girls to get together and spend quality time together. Most of the time the only time they got was at night when Buffy would wait until Dawn was asleep and then sneak over to Faith's, and then there was patrolling. Tonight even they're patrolling alone time was being compromised.

"Hey Buffy. Hey Faith," Kennedy greeted as she, fallowed by Rona and Vi, approached the two senior slayers in one of the local cemeteries.

Faith and Buffy were going through they're usual routine of walking the cemetery hand in hand searching for something big and bad to throw some hurt on. The slayers would usually split up to cover the several cemeteries of Cleveland, Ohio. Buffy and Faith would normally say that they would take two separate cemeteries and then they would end up meeting up with each other and patrolling both cemeteries together.

Luckily the two had just finished taking care of a few vampires so they're hands were not interlocked and no suspicious behavior was taking place. "Hey," Buffy said trying not to show the surprise and annoyance in her voice at the sight of them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well it's been a pretty slow week and we already patrolled our area's so we thought we'd walk around and see if either of you needed any help," Rona responded.

"But it looks like you have each other to help," Kennedy remarked trying not to sound suggestive.

The slayer had been suspecting that something was going on between these two for quite a while now and the fact that they now seemed to be patrolling together only helped to support her theory. However, every time she tried to voice her opinion to Willow, her lover would merely laugh and call her crazy. But she was pretty good at reading people and she wasn't giving up on her theory just yet.

"So I guess we're not really needed here," Vi concluded.

"Yeah, we were coming to the same conclusion as you guys," Faith explained. "It's been a slow week so just like you I came to see if B here needed any help."

"Yeah, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to confirm the slow week theory," Buffy responded. "Faith and I just took care of a few vamps a little while ago but that's the only action either of has seen all night."

"I'll bet," Kennedy said under her breath so that no one could hear. "Well then, if it's cool with you guys we're gonna head back," she said, now loud enough for everyone to hear. "Willow said that if I got back early enough she'd make me dinner. She's really getting good at the cooking thing. I swear I'm living in heaven with that goddess."

Buffy smiled. "I'll bet." She was happy for her friend. Willow had been so upset after Tara died that Buffy wasn't sure she would ever see her best friend happy again. But now, she was starting to see that look in her eyes again. Kennedy could be a brat at times but she made Willow happy and that was all Buffy cared about. Besides, they were actually a pretty cute couple.

"Yeah, we're gonna go too if that's alright with you guys," Vi added. "There's supposed to be a really good movie on ABC tonight that Rona and I wanted to watch."

"That's fine," Buffy confirmed. "You're all free to go. If the other's let them know they can go back too. As long as everyone's done a sweep you can all go in."

"Great, thanks boss," Rona responded. Then the three girls said they're good byes and left the two senior slayers alone once again.

As soon as the girls were out of sight, Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. "That was way too close for comfort," she responded.

Faith rolled her eyes. She wished that they could just tell them already. "Relax B, there was nothing to see. We weren't even holding hands."

"Yeah, but we could have been," Buffy retorted. "I mean we usually would be. We usually would be doing a lot more then that."

Faith smiled at the thought. Then she snapped back into reality. She wanted to press her concerned issues further but she really wasn't in the mood to fight so she decided to just let it go. "Ok, ok, we'll be more careful from now on when we patrol together. Now what do you say we get out of here? You can pretend to go to bed, sneak into my room, and we can check out that movie the girls were talking about."

Buffy didn't really want to let this go that easily. This was among the closest calls they'd had, although there had been closer ones. Before the girls walked up they were just about to walk closer to one another and kiss. If they had seen that it would all be over. They'd be out in the open and as much as Buffy didn't really even understand it herself, she wasn't ready for that.

She wanted to tell Faith that not only would they have to be more careful when patrolling but that maybe they shouldn't patrol together anymore, or at least not every night. And when they did patrol together they shouldn't hold hands anymore or sneak kisses. It was just too risky. She wanted to say these things but she new that Faith wanted the conversation dropped. She looked into the slayers eyes as she tried to decide what to do.

Then Faith flashed her that beautiful smile that always made her heart melt. "Come on B. We can snuggle up under the covers. I'll even give you one of my famous massages."

And that was all it took. The winning smile and the promise of a relaxing night alone was all it took to make all of the disconcerting thought's fly out of Buffy's mind. She rolled her eyes in defeat and smiled. "Alright, you win. Let's head back."

Faith smiled triumphantly. She just loved winning.


	9. A Sick Slayer

A Sick Slayer

Buffy's throat felt horrible. Her nose was all stuffed up, she couldn't even breath through it, and her head was throbbing. The slayer sniffled as she listened to her friends talk amongst themselves while she lay on the couch in her apartment in front of the television.

"Maybe we should just do this another night," Giles suggested.

"But we already made the reservations," Xander argued. "It's not easy to get reservations at this place, especially with the amount of people we have."

"Xander does have a point," Kennedy added.

Dawn scowled at both of them. "But Buffy isn't feeling well. There's no way she's going anywhere and we can't just go without her."

They had been arguing about this for at least ten minutes. The Scooby group had been planning a group dinner at Parry's, which was a very good Italian restaurant. They had to book the reservation fairly far in advance because of its popularity. Buffy had come down with a cold the night before they're reservation making the current issue, should they go, or stay with Buffy?

"Dawn's right," Willow agreed. "This whole thing was pretty much Buffy's idea in the first place. We can't go without her."

Faith sighed and leaned up against the wall. She didn't really want to get involved in the argument but she was kind of hoping they were just going to stay. She'd never been a big group person and it took a lot of convincing on Buffy's part to make her actually agree to go in the first place. Now, Buffy wouldn't be able to go even if they did end up still going. Faith had no desire to go at all because of that very fact.

Finally, Buffy decided to make the decision for all of them. "Its ok guys," she said with a stuffy voice to get they're attentions. "You guys should go. Xander's right, it's really hard to get a reservation at Parry's so you can't cancel. If anything we'll just go again next month or something like that. But I want you all to go. I'll be fine."

Dawn walked to her older sister's side with a worried look on her face. "Buffy are you sure? You really don't look very good and I'm really not liking the idea of leaving you home alone. The last time you got sick you ended up in the hospital battling a child killing demon."

Buffy gave her sister a warm smile. It was sweet that she was so worried, but she just had a cold and there was nothing to worry about. "Dawny, I'm glad you're concerned for me but I'm fine." Right after she finished saying that she started to cough profusely.

Dawn crossed her arms over her chest and gave her sister a disbelieving look. "Well you sure sound convincing with that cough to back you up," she responded sarcastically. "Slayers don't usually get sick and that's the only reason I'm so worried."

"She's right Buffy," Willow chimed in. "We wouldn't worry so much if it wasn't so rare."

Buffy rolled her eyes. The worrying was quickly passing sweet and moving right on to annoying. "Guys, really, I'll be fine. Yes, slayers don't get sick often but it isn't unheard of for them to catch a cold every now and then. Xander and Andrew just got over a cold and I probably got it from one of them."

"That is a good point," Andrew helped. "I think I may have drank from her cup when I was sick. Plus I spent a lot of time on that couch."

Everyone turned to Andrew disapprovingly. "Well thank you Andrew," Buffy said sarcastically. She knew that Andrew always spent a lot of time in they're apartment but he must have hung out on they're couch when she and Dawn were out, and who knew when he had shared her drink without asking. Buffy now realized that she should probably get off the couch until they could clean it.

"Smooth star trek," Faith added. "That's gotta be what it was. I mean sure we're slayers and we're super strong and stuff, but that doesn't mean we can't catch a cold."

"Exactly," Buffy quickly agreed as she stood up from the couch. "I just have a regular cold, now will you all please just go? You're going to be late."

Giles could see that Buffy was not going to back down from this. She had made up her mind and sick or not there was no arguing with her. "All right then everyone, Buffy's right. If we're going to go we best leave now."

With that said, everyone but Dawn and Faith started shuffling around the room grabbing they're things and getting ready to leave. Dawn was still focusing on Buffy. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you? Incase you need anything?"

The blond slayer smiled at her younger sister. "I'll be fine. You go and have a good time."

"Yeah, don't worry Dawny," Faith added. "I think I'm just gonna stay and do some patrolling or something so if big sis needs anything she can just call my cell and I'll take care of it."

Buffy smiled inwardly. She knew that Faith was going to do this. She hadn't wanted to go in the first place and she only agreed to it because her slayer wanted her to go. Now there was no need for her to go and in fact there was an even better reason for her to stay.

"See, I'm all taken care of," Buffy reassured her sister. She knew that Faith would take extra special care of her. She had to fight back a suggestive smile as she thought of just how special her girlfriend would probably treat her.

The youngest Scooby still didn't look fully convinced that her sister would be ok but she was wearing down and they really did need to go. Everyone else was at the door waiting for her to join them. Finally she rolled her eyes and gave in. "Fine, I'll go, but you have to promise that if you need us you'll call. I've got my cell phone and I know Willow has her's too."

"I promise," the eldest slayer nodded. She then put up two fingers and added, "Scouts honor."

Dawn laughed a little, rolled her eyes again, and then ran to catch up with the others. "Feel better," she yelled, and within seconds everyone was gone, leaving just Buffy and Faith in the apartment.

As soon as the door closed Faith began to move her way over to the currently sick slayer. She eyed Buffy up and down suggestively as she moved in closer. When she reached the girl she wrapped her arms around her wait and pulled her in close. "So…what do you wanna do now, B?"

Buffy smiled at the suggestive actions, but then the mood was ruined by an oncoming coughing fit. Her smile turned upside down as she quickly realized that this was not going to be able to be a nice romantic evening.

"I'm sorry baby but all I really wanna do tonight is take a shot of Nyquil and pass out," Buffy explained.

Faith sighed in disappointment, but she understood. Buffy was sick so of course she would want to rest. She gave her girlfriend a reassuring smile. "I understand, it's cool. You should get some rest." Then she leaned in for a comforting kiss, but was surprisingly denied.

Just as Faith was about to lean in and give Buffy a kiss she moved away and broke they're embrace. The extremely hurt and confused look on the other slayer's face told Buffy that she should probably explain. "I don't want to get you sick," she insisted as her explanation.

Faith simply rolled her eyes and shrugged that off. "Don't worry bout it, B. I never get sick." Then she moved in closer to try again hoping that would be convincing enough.

It didn't work. The older slayer just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, resolve on her face. "Faith seriously, it's bad enough that I'm sick but I don't want you to get sick when I start getting better."

The dark haired slayer sighed once again. She realized that she wasn't going to win this one. It frustrated her though. Since they were still keeping they're relationship a secret it was rare for them to have alone time. She was feeling all riled up and needed a release that she wasn't going to be able to get from Buffy. At least not tonight.

"Alright well I think I'm actually gonna go patrol then," Faith explained with a defeated expression on her face. "I've got some energy to burn." As she turned for the door she was stopped by Buffy grabbing her arm.

The blond slayer turned the other slayer around and gave the girl her best poudy face. "But I was kind of hoping we could just lay together. You know…snuggle."

Faith couldn't help but let a smile break her features. Then she shook her head. "No way Blondie. You're not gettin any snuggles until I get a kiss." It was the perfect blackmail. She knew that Buffy loved to snuggle and even though Faith knew that nothing could happen between them tonight she still wanted at least one kiss.

The senior slayer shook her head disapprovingly, but with a small smile on her face. "You're evil, pure evil!"

The younger slayer shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes you gotta give a little to get a little girlfriend."

Buffy rolled her eyes, but she knew she was going to give in. "You know the only reason I don't want to kiss you is because I'm looking out for you're health," she clarified. Then she began moving closer to her slayer, with a suggestive smile on her face, until she was close enough to put her hands on Faith's waist. "But if that's how you want it," she warned as she finally leaned in and kissed the satisfied slayer.

Outside of the apartment the others were all getting into they're cars ready to go to the restaurant. Dawn realized that in her hurry to get out of the house and catch up with everyone else she had forgotten her jacket. Normally she wouldn't have a problem with that but it was actually a pretty cold night and she was wearing a short sleeved shirt.

"I'll be right back Xander, I forgot my jacket," she yelled to her friend.

"Alright Dawny I'll go pull the car around," he responded back.

Dawn nodded her head in response and then quickly headed back up to her apartment. As fate would have it, Dawn reached her apartment and opened the door at the exact moment Buffy's lips connected with Faith's.

At first, neither slayer even noticed Dawn's presence. The door wasn't very noisy at all and they were both getting very caught up in the moment. However, since Buffy was sick, they're kiss didn't last as long as they usually would have and as soon as they're lips parted Dawn was spotted.

Faith was the one facing the door. As soon as she opened her eyes she saw a very shocked and confused girl standing by the door. Her face immediately turned white. "Umm…Buffy," was all she could get out as she pointed in the direction of the teenager.

Buffy looked at Faith with confusion as she still hadn't noticed that the door even opened. She turned her head and fallowed the direction of Faith's pointer finger. Her face, like Faith's had, immediately turned white as she saw her little sister standing at the door with a look of shock on her face.

Dawn couldn't seem to move, or talk, or even change her facial expression. Instead, she just stood there and waited for an explanation.


	10. Explanations

Explanations

As Buffy approached her frozen sister, she couldn't really think of anything to say. Several times her mouth opened and absolutely nothing came out. She thought about what she could possibly say. She was caught. There was no denying it. Dawn had seen her and Faith kiss and Buffy knew that it was obvious that the kiss didn't look like the first one.

"Dawn I…" Buffy tried to start but still couldn't quite find the words to explain. At least this time some words actually came out. She was making progress.

Just as Buffy was about to try and continue Dawn abruptly broke out of her trance. "I have to go. We're umm…we're going to be late. They're waiting for me. I should go," she kept saying with a look of denial.

As much as Dawn leaving now would make things easier on the older slayer she knew it probably wasn't a good idea. "Dawn wait," she said as her sister turned to the door. She sighed as she finally found her voice. "Maybe you should stay here tonight. I'll explain everything. I promise."

The younger sister looked at Buffy and then at Faith and then at the ground uncomfortably. She knew that her sister was right though. If she went to dinner now a million questions would just be running through her mind. She had caught the whole show and as impossible as it sounded in her head, it seemed like this was not the first time these two slayers had kissed. There was something going on between these two and that thought just blew her mind. She'd never in a million years would have seen it coming.

When Dawn regained her attention she nervously nodded her head in response to her sister's request. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," she said emotionlessly. "I'll just call Xander really quick and tell him that you changed you're mind and you want me to stay with you."

Buffy nodded her head. "Ok," was all she replied. As her sister turned and pulled out her cell phone, Buffy took a deep breath, exhaled and then turned to Faith. She still wasn't exactly sure what she was going to tell the confused girl but she figured that it might be best if she talked to her alone.

Before the older slayer could even open her mouth, her counterpart replied to the unspoken words. "It's ok," she responded. "I'll go out patrolling, leave you two to talk."

Buffy cracked a smile. She loved how Faith seemed to be able to read her mind somehow. "Thanks," she responded with a soft brush against the younger slayer's arm with her hand.

Faith smiled back and closed her eyes contentedly at Buffy's touch. Then she had to curb the impulse to kiss her good bye as she began to walk towards the door. Before she got there she turned around and mouthed, "Good luck." And with that, she was out the door.

The blond slayer took another deep breath as Dawn ended her phone call. It was finally time for her to tell someone. To tell the truth, she hadn't wanted any of her friends to find out like this but in a way she was kind of glad that it was her sister who was the first to find out. It felt like she should be the first person to know, at least her or Willow.

Buffy nervously rubbed her hands together as she moved closer to her younger sister. "So…I guess you're probably wondering what it was that you just saw here," she said in a joking ton to try and lighten the uncomfortable mood.

Dawn crossed her arms over her chest uneasily and nodded her head in response. "I umm…I think I just saw you and Faith kissing…but I could just be going crazy or something. Maybe I'm also getting sick. Have you been hallucinating too?" she rambled.

The slayer laughed a little at her sisters babbling. She was just like her big sister, she rambled when she was nervous or uncomfortable. "No Dawn," she answered. "That is what you saw. Faith and I were…kissing."

Now, Dawn was looking even more confused then before. At least before she could try and convince herself that this wasn't really what she saw, but now Buffy had confirmed it. Now, the only thing running through her mind was…why?

Before she could even ask that question Buffy continued to explain. "I know this is going to sound kind of crazy but…for the past two and a half months or so, Faith and I have been seeing each other." She stopped there before continuing to let this sink in.

Dawn's facial expression changed from confusion to shock. First of all, Dawn never thought in a million years that her older sister would be gay. Second of all, if she ever found out that she was, Faith was the last girl in the world she would expect her sister to be with. After everything the two of them had been through it was a wonder how they could even still be friends let alone anything more then that.

The two slayers had tried to kill each other, they'd switched bodies, Faith had slept with Buffy's boyfriend and those were just the worst offenses of the bunch. She had no idea how it was possible for the two to have a relationship.

After a few moments of silence Dawn finally found her vocal cords. "How?" unfortunately, was the only thing her mouth was able to ask. She wasn't sure if it was the best thing to say but it was all she could think of.

Now it was Buffy's turn to ramble. "I'm not really sure how it happened actually," she answered. "I mean it's crazy really and sometimes I don't even understand it either but it's there. After we destroyed the first we were there for each other and things just…changed between us. There was some kissing and some comforting and some other stuff too and I don't know how it happened but a relationship kind of just formed."

Buffy then took a much needed breath as she basically said all that she had just said in only one breath. She calmed herself down and then tried to continue. "Look Dawny, I know this is all really confusing and it doesn't make any sense but…it's a good thing." A smile began to crease her features at the end. Then a full smile broke out on her face as she continued. "I'm happy Dawny. I can't really remember the last time I could say that with a smile on my face and actually mean it."

A small smile now appeared on Dawn's face as well. That was all she ever wanted for her sister. She wanted her to be happy. As odd as this whole situation was, she was glad that her big sis was happy. She just watched and listened as Buffy continued.

"It's like…every time she walks into the room a smile automatically appears on my face. When I'm with her…I immediately know that there's no place else I'd rather be. And when I'm holding her, and she's holding me…it's like the world dissolves and we're the only two people that exist."

Dawn couldn't believe it but she almost started to cry. Everything that Buffy had just said was so incredibly romantic and it occurred to her that it didn't matter who her sister was talking about, what mattered was that she was truly happy. She hadn't seen her sister like this in a long time. It was nice to see.

"Yeah know, now that I think about it," Dawn started, "I have noticed a little extra pep in your step." Buffy laughed a little at the word usage. "I guess I just figured it was because the burden of being the one and only chosen one was lifted. I just figured it was because you could have a normal life now. I almost feel stupid for not knowing. I should have recognized that gleam in your eyes."

Buffy smiled at her little sister lovingly. "Well you weren't entirely wrong you know. My new found pep does also have a lot to do with the burden of slayerdom being lifted. The whole, having a wonderful girlfriend to share that pep with, is just an extra perk."

Dawn shuddered a little bit at the sound of that. Buffy having a girlfriend would definitely take some getting used to. She shook the thought off for now and got back to the current conversation. "So how come you haven't told any of us?" she asked. "I mean it sounds like things are going really well with the two of you and you said you've been together ever since right after the whole Sunnydale thing so why are you still keeping it a secret?"

The slayer took a moment to think. Part of her couldn't even really think of an answer for that. Part of her wasn't really sure why she'd wanted to still keep all of this a secret, but she did. "Well at first we were both really confused about the whole thing so we both decided that it would probably be better to just keep it a secret until we figured out what it all meant. And now…I guess I just haven't been ready yet. Things will be different when everyone knows. For a while, everyone will look at us differently, maybe even act differently around us. The same thing happened when Willow first came out. We all tried not to act different or treat her any different but the situation was…well…different. So that was just the only way we could think to treat it…if that makes any sense at all."

Dawn thought for a moment and then responded unsurely, "I think it does."

Then Buffy continued. "I mean sure things got back to normal after a while and instead of different, Willow being with Tara just became normal. And I know the same thing will happen with Faith and I. After a while it will be as if we'd always been together. But…I guess I just haven't been ready to go through that awkward period yet."

The younger sister nodded her head in understanding. She could kind of understand what her sister was trying to say. She couldn't really put herself in her shoes so she couldn't really even imagine what it must be like to be afraid to tell her friends. She figured that it couldn't be an easy task and that this was why her sister was delaying so much.

Then she thought about something she hadn't caught at first. Her sister had said that she hadn't been ready. She was now wondering if her finding out made her ready now, or if this was going to be something that Dawn would now have to keep a secret as well. She realized that the best way to find out would be to just ask.

"So does this mean that you're ready to tell the others now? Or should I just keep this little revelation to myself?"

Buffy sighed. She knew that Faith would be disappointed but she still just wasn't ready. "If you could, I'd be really grateful if you'd just keep it to yourself for now. I'm just still not quite ready to be out yet."

Dawn nodded her head with a smile. "Of course. You're secret's safe with me."

Buffy smiled back at her and then pulled her into a hug. "Thanks Dawny."


	11. Argument

A/N: Hello all! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviews this story and even to those who don't but keep up with it. I love feedback and I love to know how I'm doing and you all do a great job telling me. As you can all probably tell by the title of this chapter it's pretty much what everyone has been anticipating and waiting for. It might just be my personal favorite chapter so far so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks again!

Argument

It was a beautiful site. Blonde hair flying everywhere, the sound of every blow she sent, the smell of sweat in the hair. She thought about running out to help but she could see that her slayer had things under control. There were only two vampires and Buffy seemed to be fully enjoying beating the crap out of both of them.

Faith just stood in the shadow's of some nearby trees with a bright smile on her face. She watched as Buffy quickly and easily took out the two vampires one by one. As the blonde slayer was still caught in the moment of the fight, Faith snuck up behind her unnoticed just as Buffy staked the second, and final, vampire.

Buffy smiled, tucked her stake away and then brushed herself off. "It's about time I got to see some action," she said to herself.

The dark haired slayer took this opportunity to make her move. She quietly snuck up behind the older slayer being sure to speak before touching her so as not to startle her. "And here I thought I was giving you enough action at home," Faith responded as she wrapped her arm's around Buffy's waist from behind her.

Buffy's smile brightened even wider at the sound of Faith's voice and her body felt as if it would melt at her touch. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Faith's and turned her head to the side to get a glimpse of her girl. As soon as her head turned Faith met her half way and greeted her with a soft, tender kiss.

"That's no fair, B," Faith started as they broke away from they're kiss. "How come you always get all the vamps? I vote for a trade in territory."

The other slayer turned around so that she was facing Faith, never breaking they're contact. "What can I say? They like me better," Buffy responded cheerfully. "Or…I guess it would be that they like me less since I'm the one they were trying to kill."

Faith laughed a little at Buffy's attempt to make sense of what she was trying to say. "I think I know what you meant." She then leaned in for another soft, sweet kiss. She couldn't help but smile into it.

This caused Buffy to laugh slightly. She loved it when Faith smiled. In fact, she got so caught up in the romance of the moment that she forgot her new rule. When realization kicked in about where they were she pulled away slowly.

A confused look immediately appeared on Faith's face as soon as she no longer had Buffy in her arms. "What's goin on, B?"

Buffy frowned. "I told you before Faith, we're too careless on patrol. The junior slayers could show up at any time and see us."

"You've gotta be kidding me?" Faith said as aggravation rose inside of her. She was getting really sick of this crap. She'd put up with it for a while now but this was just the last little thing to push her over the edge. Buffy was her girlfriend and she wanted to be able to touch her and kiss her whenever she wanted. She was sick and tired of always having to be so careful and she was sick and tired of having wonderful moments like these ruined.

Buffy rolled her eyes. She felt bad for disturbing the moment but she'd already discussed this with Faith before. "Faith we already talked about this."

Faith raised her hands and gestured emphatically as she spoke. "I know we did Buffy but that doesn't mean that I agree with it. Just because you say something is what we have to do doesn't mean I like it."

The older slayer pursed her lips and sighed. Faith had called her Buffy, the only times she called her Buffy were when she was really serious about something. Most of the time it was in romantic situations but she would also use her full name instead of just B when she was angry with her and this was definitely an angry 'Buffy.'

"I'm really getting sick of this, Buffy," Faith continued. Her voice was a little calmer now but the other slayer could tell that she was still upset. Sometimes the calmer the younger slayer was during an argument scared Buffy even more. Usually when she was calm it meant she had her mind made up already and there was no arguing about it. And what she said next really started to scare her. "I don't know how much more of this I can handle."

She said this in a completely calm ton and wouldn't look into Buffy's eyes. This was a really bad sign. Buffy tilted her head to try and look at Faith's face as she spoke. "What are you trying to say?" she asked cautiously.

Faith lifted her head and looked Buffy square in the eyes. "I want to be out, Buffy. I'm sick of the sneaking around. I mean come on, you're sister knows and she's fine with it. And you can't tell me you don't feel a little better having someone that finally knows."

She had a point. In some ways it did feel a lot better that Dawn knew. It made things a lot easier and she did hate keeping such a big secret from the people she loved but for some reason she just wasn't ready for them to know yet. She thought that maybe if she could just find a way to explain to Faith why she didn't want them to know yet, then she would calm down and things would be ok again. It was worth a try.

"I know it's hard," Buffy started, "And you're right. Things are a lot easier now that Dawn knows but…I don't really know how to explain this to you in a way you'll understand…I'm just not ready. I can't really explain it. It's like…I know they'll be ok with it after a while but in the beginning things will be weird," she tried to explain. So far she wasn't doing a very good job.

She decided to try an example to help explain. "Like when Willow first came out, things were a little different. It took quite a bit of getting used to and even though we didn't really mean to, we all kind of treated her a little differently for a little while before we got used to it."

"But you did get used to it," Faith pointed out enthusiastically. "They will too, B. They'll get used to us being together."

"I know that," Buffy confirmed. "I'm just not sure I'm ready for that awkward part yet where they're not used to it."

"Well I'm sorry Buff but you kind of have to go through that part first," Faith explained. "There's really no getting around that part. It takes getting used to."

Buffy rolled her eyes. She knew all of this, but Faith just wasn't letting her finish. "I know," she responded with an annoyed ton. "I know that we'll have to go through that part first…eventually. I'm just not ready to go through it right now."

Faith was getting even more frustrated now. "Then when Buffy? When are you ever going to be ready? We've been together for almost two and a half months now. If you haven't been ready in two and a half months then when the hell are you going to be ready?"

Buffy wasn't really sure how exactly she should respond to that. She had no idea when she would be ready but she knew that wasn't the answer that Faith was looking for. Unfortunately, it was all she had at the moment. "I don't know," she responded softly.

Faith's heart sank. There was no winning this. If Buffy wasn't ready there was no way she was going to convince her to be ready. She tried to calm herself down for the next thing she was going to say. She wanted to be supportive but she also wanted to get her own point across. She was done with just laying low and waiting for her to be ready.

"Well then what is it Buffy?" the younger slayer asked angrily. "Is it shame? Are you ashamed to be with me? Is it like when you were with Spike? You couldn't bare the thought of your friends knowing that you were screwing a soulless vampire. Is it that you can't bare the thought of your friends knowing that now instead of screwing a soulless killer you're screwing a murderer with a soul? Is that what this is all about?"

A sad look appeared on Buffy's face as she walked closer to the angry slayer. She reached her hand up to Faith's face and softly caressed her cheek. "Baby how could you even think that?" she asked sincerely.

Faith tried to turn away from her. She hated bring up her tainted past but it kind of just slipped out in her anger. Sometimes she couldn't even understand why Buffy wanted to be with her after all she'd done. Spike had killed a lot more people then she had but he'd done it when he hadn't had a soul. When she did the things she did, she had a soul the entire time.

Buffy wouldn't let her turn away. She wanted Faith to look into her eyes so that she would know how serious she really was. "Faith, look at me," she ordered. When Faith's eyes slowly turned toward her and met with hers she gave her a soft smile. "What you just said…is the farthest thing from the truth. I know what you did in your past and I don't care. I also know that you're making it right. You know that what you did was wrong and now you're making up for it everyday."

The older slayer then slowly pulled her hand away when she knew that she had the other woman's attention and that she wasn't going to pull away. "I'm not ashamed of you Faith. The whole thing with Spike was a completely different issue."

She watched happily as Faith seemed to let her guard a little and was realizing that Buffy was telling her the truth. Then she realized that she had to get back to the situation at hand, as much as she'd like to just let it go. "I'm so sorry if I made you think that. I honestly don't know why I'm not really to tell my friends yet. I know it's not that I'm ashamed of you. I know it's not a lot of things. I don't know what it is but…all I know is that I'm just not ready."

Faith sighed. Just when she thought she was making some progress. She believed everything that Buffy had told her. She could tell when the other slayer was lying and she definitely wasn't right now. What Buffy said meant a lot to her but she wasn't about to let the issue go.

"Look," she started softly and calmly, "I understand that you don't want to come out yet because you're not ready. What I don't understand is why you're not ready. I can't just except that you're not ready but that you have no reason why." She paused for a moment to let that sink in to her slayer but continued her thought before allowing her to respond. "I do understand why I'm ready though."

She smiled as she started to explain. Her feeling were strong and she just couldn't hold it in any longer. "I think I'm falling in love with you, Buffy." It actually felt good to get that out. But it wasn't even exactly what she meant to say. She continued before Buffy could say anything. "No you know what, that's not even true. I KNOW I'm in love with you." Her face was intensely serious but at the same time the smile never left. She really meant what she was saying and surprisingly it didn't seem hard for her to say it at all. For some reason she thought that when the time finally came for her to tell someone she loved them it would be harder then this.

"Yah know you always hear people say that when you fall in love you just know," Faith continued. "I never got that. I've never been in love before so I didn't really understand. I thought there had to be something that would trigger it or something like that, but there really isn't. I don't know how I know that I love you, Buffy. I just know that I do."

The younger slayer laughed a little as she thought about what she was saying. "Man, can you even believe this? Who would have thought that I'd be the first one to say it?" Then she became serious again. "I never thought I'd find someone like you, Buffy. I never thought I could possibly be this happy ever in my life."

Now Faith's smile had faded and she began to look sad. "So I think I've figured it out actually," she continued. "I think I figured out why you're not ready and why you don't want to tell them. You don't want them to know because you don't love me. You don't share the same feeling for me that I feel for you." She could barely get this out. It was hard to say because she was convinced that it was one hundred percent true.

"Faith you know that's not true," Buffy shot back right away leaving no room for hesitation.

"Then tell me, Buffy," the dark haired slayer pleaded. "You don't have to say that you love me. I don't want you to tell me if it's not true but tell me how you feel about me. Tell me that you care about me as much as I care about you. Tell me that you see this lasting. God just…just tell me how you really feel."

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but no words left it. That was all it took. That simple lack of words was all Faith needed to know the truth. The hurt slayer began to walk away and Buffy just couldn't seem to bring herself to say anything to stop her, despite how much she wanted to.

However, Faith did stop. She didn't turn around to face Buffy at first. "I really hope that someday you will feel the same way," she said softly. Then she did turn to face the blonde slayer, her face deadly serious and gaze hard as rock. "I'm just not sure how long I can wait for that day to come." And with that she continued to walk away into the night.

Buffy mentally kicked herself as she watched her partner walk away. Why couldn't she say anything? Why couldn't she bring herself to stop her? She couldn't believe she was just letting her leave thinking that Buffy didn't care about her. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

The senior slayer sure as hell did care about her girlfriend. She cared more about her then she could even find words to explain. That was probably why she didn't say anything when Faith asked her how she felt. There were just no words to describe it.

And yet, she knew that wasn't true. She did know that she cared about Faith a great deal, she just wasn't exactly sure how much. She wasn't really sure if she was in love with Faith or not. She cared about her so much, but love is a really strong and powerful thing to say. She didn't want to say it unless she was a hundred percent sure that she meant it.

Buffy grunted in frustration as she rubbed her face furiously. She'd really done it this time. Faith had actually told her that she loved her, and Buffy knew she meant it. This made her even more aggravated with herself. She should have said something. Now she would definitely have to figure out exactly what she needed to say to her slayer to make her understand how she felt about her before going back home.

_This could take a while_, she thought to herself as she started to slowly walk along the cemetery in the direction of town. She had a lot going through her mind that she needed to think about.

It wasn't long before her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp scream coming from the direction of town. Buffy's ears perked up at the sound and she immediately burst into a hurried run in the direction of the scream.

Secretly she was thankful for the distraction. She was extremely angry with herself about everything that just happened with Faith. She could really use the chance to release that anger on a vampire, or maybe a demon, either way it didn't matter.

The origin of the scream was quickly found. Just as Buffy had suspected there was a vampire just outside of the busier part of town with a screaming woman struggling in his arms. Just as the vampire was about to sink his teeth into the woman, Buffy made her presence known.

"You vampires just never learn do you?" the slayer said as she shook her head in disappointment. "You would think that all of you would know by now that there are quite a few slayers here in Cleveland."

The vampire looked up at the slayer with a smile on his face to try and hide his fear. "What can I say? I guess I'm just a gluten for punishment," the vampire responded.

The vamp had heard of slayers before so he knew that he couldn't take her alone. Thinking quickly he grabbed the woman in his arms tightly on her shoulders, picked her up and then threw her into the slayer. He then took off as fast as he could while Buffy was thrown off guard, taking advantage of her current weakness.

Buffy silently cursed her self for not seeing this coming. She quickly caught the victim, falling to the ground as she did. "Are you hurt?" she asked the crying girl.

The scared woman shook her head slowly and responded shakily. "I…I don't think so."

That was all Buffy needed. The innocent was safe and now it was time to deal with the arrogant vampire. She quickly got to her feet and ran as fast as her legs would carry her in the direction the vampire was heading.

It only took her a few moments to catch up to him to the point where she could see him, but he was still a good ways in front of her. She kept up her pace with him but it was taking her longer then she hoped to gain any ground and he wasn't slowing down an inch.

In an attempt to loose the slayer, the vampire made a sharp turn to the right running straight through a tall set of bushes. "Great," Buffy said sarcastically under her breath. But this was not going to stop her. Slayers didn't just let vampires go free just because they were harder to catch.

As Buffy rushed through the bushes after the vampire she had no idea what was on the other side. Cleveland was still fairly new territory for the slayer even though she'd lived there for a few months now. It was a pretty big area and where she was at the moment was an area she was unfamiliar with.

On the other side of the bushes lay a fairly popular road that almost always had cars going by even in the middle of the night, such as it was at the time. As fait would have it, Buffy happened to run through the bushes and into the road at the exact moment a car was driving by.

Since the bushes were located directly next to the road the driver of the car had no reaction time to even put on his brakes as the blonde woman ran out in front of him. Buffy was hit head on by the car going the full speed limit. She was thrown over the top of the car before she even had the time to realize that she had been in the middle of a road. Her body slammed and rolled onto the pavement as she landed.

The driver stopped the car, got out, and franticly rushed to the woman's side. When he reached her, all he found was a very bloody and beaten body with no signs of life to be seen.


	12. Scared

Scared

Just as Buffy had been doing, Faith was mentally kicking herself as she reached home. She hated that she freaked out on Buffy but at the same time she knew it was necessary. She had to tell her how she felt. She just couldn't keep it in any longer. She hadn't gone home right away. Instead she walked around for a while thinking and getting even more agitated.

Thinking about how the blond slayer responded to her declaration of feelings, or rather didn't respond, made Faith's frustrations quickly turn to sorrow. She loved Buffy more then she ever thought possible but it hurt beyond belief to know that those feeling were unrequited. She never thought it was even possible to feel pain like this.

"I guess now I know how Spike must have felt," she said to herself. It wasn't a good feeling.

The night's events had caused the slayer to start thinking about something she never thought she would have to think about. She started thinking about the possibility of leaving the one person she'd ever loved.

As much as Faith loved her slayer she felt that things would probably be even worse staying in a relationship with someone who didn't love her back. She hated thinking about that but it made sense. She had no final decisions made but the thoughts were definitely there.

She shook her head rapidly before opening the door to the apartment complex as if to try and shake the thoughts away. She decided that she didn't want to think about it anymore tonight. All she wanted to do was go upstairs to her apartment, take a long, hot shower and then go to sleep.

When she reached her floor, she realized that her blow dryer was at Buffy's. She sighed and decided to run in quickly to get it, hoping that Dawn would be asleep.

Of course, she had no such luck. As she opened the door to Buffy's apartment she found Dawn laying on the couch watching TV. The young girl often stayed up and waited for her sister to get home from slaying. This night was like any other so that's just what she was doing.

As Dawn heard the door open she turned her head quickly in Faith's direction expecting to see her big sister. When she saw Faith instead a questioning look appeared on her face. "Hey Faith," she greeted. "Where's Buffy?"

"She's still out kiddo," Faith responded trying not to show that something was wrong. "I just came to get my hair dryer so I can take a shower and then go to bed."

As good of a liar as Faith was, Dawn could see right through her. If Faith was back without Buffy she knew that something was up. Dawn shot the slayer a disbelieving look. "Spill," she demanded bluntly. "What happened?"

Faith rolled her eyes. She was afraid of this. Now the teenager was never going to let this go until she told her what happened. "Nothing," she lied. "We just had a little fight is all. No big."

Dawn wasn't buying it, and even if she was she'd want to know what the fight was all about anyway. She got up from her comfy spot on the couch and walked into the small kitchen where Faith was currently standing. She sat down at the small, round kitchen table and gestured for Faith to sit as well. "What about?" she asked.

The slayer rolled her eyes once again as she knew that she wasn't getting out of this. She took a deep breath, sat down across from Dawn and started to explain. "I'm just sick of it Dawny. I'm sick of having to hide all this shit."

Dawn sighed. She had a feel that this was what the argument was about. She'd seen it coming ever since she first found out that Buffy and Faith were together. She sort of understood why Buffy wanted to keep they're relationship a secret but at the same time she really didn't understand it at all. But, because Buffy was her sister, she supported whatever decision she made.

"I kind of figured that's what this might be about," Dawn responded sadly.

"So you know where I'm coming from then?" Faith asked with slight excitement. She was glad that she wasn't the only one that realized something wasn't right about this situation.

"I love my sister and I support her in pretty much everything she does," Dawn responded defensively. "But," she began to add as her defensiveness fell, "I would have to say that I agree with you here. I really don't understand why she isn't ready yet."

Faith's gaze dropped. Unlike Dawn she did know why. "She doesn't love me Dawny," she responded sadly.

The sound of the slayer's words made Dawn's heart sink. She could see in Faith's movements and the ton of her voice that she truly believed what she was saying. "Faith," she said sternly so that the woman would look up at her. When she did, she looked at her with extreme seriousness. "I honestly don't think that's true."

Faith smiled slightly at the teenager's attempt to make her feel better. "Well out of you, me and Buffy I think that makes one of us," she replied.

"Faith, you can't really believe that?" Dawn questioned. "I can tell that Buffy cares about you a lot. I can see it in the way she looks at you, the way she acts around you and the way she talks about you."

"Yeah? Well I guess she just doesn't care about me enough then does she?" Faith asked rhetorically.

"I really don't think that's it," Dawn insisted. "It has to be something else. I think she does love you. She might not even know it yet but I honestly think she does. You should have heard what she told me the night that I first found out about the two of you. I remember exactly what she told me because I thought it was so romantic."

Faith looked at the teenager slightly intrigued wondering what it was that Buffy had told her that night not too long ago.

Dawn smiled as she continued. "She told me that every time you walk into a room she automatically smiles. She said that when she's with you there's no place else she'd rather be. And she said," her smile brightened, "She said that when she's holding you, and you're holding her it's like her whole world dissolves and the two of you are the only ones who exist."

Faith tried to smile but it came out kind of half assed. What Dawn had told her was sweet and it did sound like something mushy that her girlfriend would say. But she just couldn't shake the fact that if Buffy really did love her then she wouldn't be acting the way she was. She wouldn't still want to hide they're relationship and if she did she would have a hell of a lot better of a reason then the fact that she just wasn't ready. She would have a good reason why she wasn't ready which she currently couldn't provide.

The teenager could see the pain in the slayer's eyes. She reached out and placed a comforting hand on hers. "Its gonna be ok Faith," she reassured with a soft smile. "Buffy will come around."

The dark haired slayer smiled back at the girl. "I hope you're right Dawny. I really hope you're right."

Before either one could continue they're conversation the phone began to ring. Both girls looked at each other with confusion. It was well past midnight and they had no idea who would be calling the apartment so late. "That's weird," Dawn noted as she stood up and walked towards the phone, "Who would be calling so late?"

"Beats me," Faith shrugged.

"Hello?" Dawn asked into the phone as she picked up the portable.

"Hello," the voice on the other line greeted, "Is this the Summers residence?"

"Yes," Dawn responded nervously as she began to worry. The woman on the phone didn't sound like she was about to give her good news. "I'm Dawn Summers," she added.

Faith's stomach churned uncomfortably as she saw the worried look on the teenager's face. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

"Ms. Summers, my name is Ms. Collins from Cleveland Memorial Hospital. Does a Buffy Summers live at this residence?" the woman asked.

Dawn's stomach was now in the same position as Faith's was. With the mention of a hospital she was sure that her sister was hurt. "Yes, she's my sister. What's going on? Is Buffy ok?" the teenager asked as she tried to stop herself from panicking.

Faith stood up from her chair, walked to Dawn, and looked at her intently waiting to hear what was going on. By the look of the teenager's panicked face the slayer knew that something was seriously wrong with her girlfriend. A million thoughts were racing through her mind as she waited for what seemed like hours.

What if Buffy was badly hurt? What if she got jumped by vampires or demons when she left her there in the cemetery? What if they were just waiting there for her to leave so that they could make they're move? She wouldn't be able to forgive herself for leaving her. What if it was worse? What if the one person she loved most in this world was gone?

She shook the thought out of her head. She couldn't think that way. She wouldn't let herself. Buffy was fine. Faith figured that she probably just got herself into some trouble and this was the police letting them know that she was in custody. She was probably just so upset about they're fight that she did something crazy and got caught. Yeah, that was probably it. That had to be it. Faith didn't think she would be strong enough to handle anything else.

"Miss Summers, you're sister has been involved in an accident," the woman on the phone explained. "She ran out into the middle of a road and she was hit by a car."

"Oh my god," Dawn said as she put her hand over her mouth in shook. She quickly took the phone away from her mouth and said to Faith, "She's been in an accident." She fought back tears as she resumed her conversation with the woman from the hospital. "Is she ok? Is she alive? Please tell me she's alive." Her tears began to flow as the last words left her mouth.

Faith's face turned completely white. She took a few steps back towards the wall as she felt her legs begin to give out. She held on to the wall to steady herself. She felt like she might be sick. Then she whispered to herself, "Please let her be alive." She knew that as long as Buffy was alive she would make it. No matter how bad her injuries might be she was a fighter. If she was still alive then she would make it. "Please let her be alive," she whispered again to herself.

"She's alive," Ms. Collins reassured.

Dawn let out a sharp breath that she didn't even realize she'd been holding. "Thank god," she said softly.

Faith also released a sigh of relief as she figured out from Dawn's exclamation that Buffy was in fact alive. She knew that the girl wouldn't say what she'd said if Buffy didn't make it. Now the question that remained was, how badly hurt was she?

Before allowing the teenager to get too relived the woman on the phone continued. "However, I'm afraid she's in pretty bad shape. The driver of the vehicle didn't even have time to apply the breaks. You're sister was hit extremely hard at a fairly rapid speed."

Dawn closed her eyes as the tears began to form once again. They weren't in the clear yet. "How bad is it?" she asked as she attempted to control her sobs.

The woman from the hospital paused for a moment. When she did respond the ton in her voice was that of defeat. "It's not looking very good right now miss. She's in surgery now. The doctors are doing all they can. I suggest you come to the hospital now and the doctors can explain your sister's condition in greater detail."

Dawn tried her best to keep a calm voice on the phone. "O…ok. I'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you." Then she didn't even wait for a response. She immediately hung up the phone and turned to Faith. "We have to get to the hospital."

"How bad is it?" Faith asked quickly.

The teenager paused to try and control herself but was unsuccessful. She began to break down with tears just as she responded. "It doesn't sound good Faith," she said through her sobs. "I'm scared."

Faith too was now trying to fight back tears. They couldn't both break down. She had to keep herself as calm as possible. She had to hold it together for Dawn. She quickly approached the young girl and took her into her arms. "I am too Dawny. I am too. But Buffy's strong. She's going to be just fine." Then she added softly under her breath, "She _has_ to be."


	13. Waking Up

Waking Up

Buffy's head hurt as she slowly began to wake up. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the bright light around her. When they finally did, she realized that she was in a purely white room. It wasn't what she had been expecting. She didn't remember much of what happened but, because of that fact, she half expected to wake up in a hospital bed hooked up to a bunch of machines.

The last thing she could remember was chasing a vampire through the cemetery towards town. She remembered that she started to catch up to him when he ran through some bushs. Naturally, she ran through the bushes after him, and that was the last thing she could remember. She had no idea what was beyond those bushes but it obviously wasn't good.

As she continued to look around she tried to prop herself up to get a better view of her surroundings. Getting up wasn't easy. Her body felt tired and weak. She wasn't used to that feeling. When she was finally able to push herself up with her arms into a sitting position she realized that she actually was in a bed. Maybe she was in a hospital after all.

But that theory quickly left her mind as she noticed that there were no doctors, no nurses, no machinery, and no…walls? There were no walls. She found herself sitting on a bed dressed with pure white sheets in the middle of a white no where.

She quickly turned her head in all directions looking for any ounce of familiarity she could find. She found none. Finding her voice, she decided to try calling out to see if anyone would respond. "Hello?" she spoke into the distance. An echo fallowed her words. It was as if she was in the middle of a huge crater covered in clean white snow. Only it wasn't cold. In fact it was the perfect temperature.

She decided to try again, but a little louder this time. "Is anyone there?" Again, there was no answer except for the echo of her own voice.

Thoroughly creeped out at this point, she decided to get out of the bed and walk around in hopes of finding some sign of life in the area. Just as she started to go on her quest she was startled by a voice behind her.

"And where do you think you're goin, B?"

The slayer smiled before turning around. It was Faith. Her heart filled with warmth at the sound of her familiar voice. She turned around to find her fellow slayer standing there in her usual attire of all black with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

"Boy am I glad to see you," Buffy responded as she walked closer to the dark haired woman in front of her. She was so happy to see a familiar face and even happier that the familiar face she saw was Faith.

When she reached the other slayer her smile began to fade as she recalled the argument they had earlier. She couldn't understand why Faith was smiling. She was sure that she would still be mad at her and yet she didn't seem like she was. Although there were more important problems at hand, Buffy realized that she should probably say something.

"Look…Faith…I can't even begin to explain to you how sorry I am," she started. As she was about to continue her apology she was cut off.

"Woo there, B," Faith stopped her. "I'm really not the one who should be hearing this."

Now Buffy was really confused. "No…Faith really…I owe you a huge apology."

"You're right," Faith confirmed, "You probably do owe Faith an apology. But, I'm not Faith, so you're apology would be wasted on me."

Buffy had no idea what was going on. The person she was talking to certain looked like Faith, and sounded like Faith, and acted like Faith…so why wasn't she Faith? "Ok…is this some kind of practical joke or something because I'm not fallowing here."

Faith smiled at the confused slayer. "I should have figured you wouldn't understand. Take a look around, B." As she said that, Buffy did as she was told and began glancing around the unfamiliar area. "I mean you gotta know that we aint in Kansas anymore right?"

"Good point," Buffy admitted. "So…where exactly are we? And if you're not Faith, which I'm finding really hard to believe, then who are you?"

This was when Faith's smile began to fade. She'd been smiling the whole time until now to keep the mood light but it was time to tell Buffy the truth. "I don't know how much you remember, B, but you got hurt tonight. You got hurt pretty bad," she revealed with a sad look on her face.

Buffy was still confused. "I don't understand."

"No, how could you?" Faith realized. "You've never been through this like I have…or rather, like she has."

"Been through what?" Buffy asked nervously.

Faith pursed her lips and sent the other slayer another sad glance. "You're in a coma, B."

The blonde slayer's eyes widened and her breath became shallow. How could this be? She couldn't be in a coma, she was standing right there wide awake with Faith…in the middle of nowhere. She was finally starting to get it as she thought about that last fact. She must just be in some kind of dream world. It sure would explain the white nothingness and the fact that Faith was saying that she wasn't really Faith.

"So…what is this then?" Buffy asked as she looked around to indicate that she was talking about where they were, "Are we just…inside my mind or something?"

Faith smiled. "Now you're catchin on, B. Now that you know where you are I guess I should explain who I am."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "I assumed that you were just dream Faith."

"It's a good guess," Faith responded, "But not quite right." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Yah see…I'm sorta like a guide that your brain created to help you try and sort out some things." She took another pause to let the information sink in and then continued. "I mean why not right? You've got the time to spare."

"I guess that's true," Buffy responded. Then she looked to the ground nervously before speaking again. She wanted to find out more about the whole guide thing and how she even got in a coma in the first place but there was another question that was currently wracking her brain. A question that she was unable to avoid asking. "What if…what if I don't wake up?"

To Buffy's surprise, Faith merely laughed at the question at first. "Come on, B. Are you serious?" she asked. "You're the toughest person I know. You've died twice already and yet even that didn't stop you. You've been shot, stabbed and nearly beaten to death more times then I could probably count and you still held on."

"But what if I can't this time?" Buffy shot back. "I've seen heaven, Faith. I've tasted paradise, pure contentment. I know what lies in wait for me in the afterlife." She paused for a moment to let all of that sink in to the guide masquerading as her girlfriend. "I mean don't get me wrong, I'm loving my life right now…but heaven is heaven. No worries, no responsibilities, just happiness…pure happiness. Knowing all of that…what if I end up not wanting to hold on?"

Faith sighed and frowned at the confused girl. "You will," was all she responded.

"How can you be sure?" Buffy asked.

"Because, B," she started to explain, "You created me in that crazy little head of yours. If I believe it…that means you believe it."

Buffy didn't even respond to that. She hadn't really thought about it that way before. If Faith believed that she would fight to hold on then she must believe it too. As confusing as all of this was, that fact made her feel a little better.

"It's like I was telling you before, Buffy," Faith continued, "I'm not really Faith. You created me in your head to help you work things out. I just look like Faith because that's who you want me to look like. You wanted someone familiar, someone you trust, someone you care about."

The guide made sense. Faith fit every single one of those qualities. Plus, the moment she woke up, Faith was the first thing she thought about. Even with all of the pain and confusion, she woke up thinking of her.

"You said before that you're loving your life now," Faith began after Buffy didn't say anything. "It's a good feeling isn't it? Doesn't happen too often in you're line of work."

A small smile appeared on Buffy's face and she nodded her head. "It does feel good actually, really good."

Faith smiled at that response. The smile didn't last long though as she got to the point of why she brought that up. "But something still isn't right is it?" she asked. "There's still something that's been bothering you. Something you need to figure out. Something you need to work out in your head."

Now Buffy's smile also faded as she thought about what the dark haired girl was talking about. She hadn't wanted to admit it to herself but she was right. There was something that had been nagging at her for quite some time now. Something that for some reason just wouldn't work itself out and wouldn't let her be fully happy because of that.

A small smirk appeared on Faith's face as she could see that the older slayer knew exactly what she was talking about. "You never have been able to have a complication free relationship have you, B? There's just always something."

Buffy looked down to the ground in guilt. Even though the woman standing in front of her wasn't really Faith she couldn't bring herself to look at the carbon copy. She didn't know what the heck was wrong with her. She had a really amazing thing going with Faith back in the real world. So…why couldn't she just let it be amazing? Why couldn't she commit? Why couldn't she let herself be happy?

"You just can't figure it out can you?" the guide asked. "You haven't been able to for a while now. It's funny because if anything you would think that she would be the one who would have trouble committing. Given her history with relationships, or lack there of, you would think that she would be the one pushing you away for no good reason. But instead it's you. You just can't let her in."

Listening to the Faith look-a-like talk about herself in the third person was a little confusing and slightly disturbing and yet, Buffy knew she was right. "I just," she started to try and explain. She looked up at Faith forcing her sad eyes to look into hers. "I just don't know if I can ever love her," she managed to get out after some difficulty.

She felt horrible after saying that. She felt even worse having to say it into those deep brown eyes but she had to face the truth sometime. Why not while she was in a coma? Why not take this chance to knock some sense into her, to get her to admit how she really feels.

Faith nodded her head slowly. "See…now we're gettin somewhere. I know that was probably hard to admit to yourself, B, but it was for your own good. You need to look deep inside yourself and figure all this out before you wake up, which you will, so that you can know what you're gonna tell her. Cuz B…I don't think she's gonna wait for you forever."

Buffy turned to the ground once again in sadness at the thought of losing Faith. It was the last thing she wanted. She'd do anything to be able to sort out her emotions and keep the younger slayer in her life. When she turned back up to face the guide she asked with determination, "How?"

The dark haired slayer smiled. "I'm gonna help you."


	14. Numb

A/N: Hey everyone! Soooo sorry it's taken me so long to update but I've been extremely busy lately and I've run out of back up chapters so I'm kind of just posting as I get them written now which is taking me longer then I'd hoped. The problem is that I've got all the ideas in my head…but no time to write them down. It sucks! I love to write and I hate not having time to do it. Anyway…here's the next chapter so I hope you all enjoy it!

Thanks so much to everyone who reads and reviews this story! You guys are great!

Numb

Shortly after Dawn had received the call from the hospital she and Faith had woken everyone in the building. Faith, Dawn, Giles, Xander, Willow, Andrew, Kennedy and the other junior slayers all pilled into their cars and rushed to the hospital all with worry etched into they're faces.

They were at the hospital now waiting impatiently in the waiting the room. The information they had received when they got there was that Buffy had been hit by a car while running across a busy street and that she was currently in surgery. They'd been waiting for nearly six hours. The sun had come up and everyone was exhausted.

Most of the junior slayers and Andrew literally hadn't been able to keep they're eyes open. About half of the occupants in the waiting room were fast asleep. Everyone else who wasn't asleep looked like they could pass out at any moment. That is, everyone except for one person…Faith.

The slayer's eyes had been wide open the entire time. She couldn't seem to keep still. A million thoughts were racing through her head and she sat in her chair with a blank stair on her face, her leg shaking just to keep her body in motion. Why did this have to happen? Why now? Why this night? She'd never believed in stuff like this before but she was starting to think it was a sign.

She thought that maybe this was some higher power telling her that she should have just left things alone. She shouldn't have said anything. She should have just given Buffy the time she needed. If they hadn't gotten in a fight none of this ever would have happened.

Faith realized that Buffy had to have been after something. Her slayer wouldn't be careless enough to run out in front of a car unless she had a damn good reason. She must have been chasing something and just didn't even see the car coming her way. If they hadn't gotten in a fight, that never would have happened. Whatever it was that she was chancing she would have had Faith there as her back up.

From across the room Willow watched the dark haired slayer as she could sense the inter battle going on in her mind. Ever since becoming a goddess, the red head had become somewhat of an empath. She could sense people's emotions if she opened herself up to it. She rarely did this, however, so as not to invade people's privacies, but there was something about the way Faith was reacting to all of this that had her curious.

Right now she could feel the tension, the pain, the guilt, the regret, and the worry that the slayer was feeling. And then there were other emotions inside of the girl that Willow never expected to see. She felt compassion, devotion and love. The oddest thing about all of that was that those emotions were geared towards her long time best friend. They were geared towards Buffy. Faith was in love with Buffy.

Willow kicked herself mentally for not seeing it earlier. Her girlfriend had told her time and time again that there was something going on between the two senior slayers but she would never let herself believe it…until now. They must have been secretly seeing each other. It was either that or Faith was just secretly in love with Buffy, but Willow highly doubted it was the latter.

Looking back now she couldn't understand how she hadn't seen the signs. The way they would look at each other, the way they acted around each other, all the time they were spending together. She should have figured it out a long time ago.

She continued to watch the slayer as she tried to imagine what she must be going through right now. She had no idea what she would be doing if it were Kennedy instead of Buffy. Even now it was her best friend that was in surgery fighting for her life, and she was scared to death. But if it were the woman she loved she knew it would be worse. She couldn't even imagine losing another lover. She wouldn't have the strength to go on.

After some mulling over of the idea, Willow decided to go sit next to Faith and try to talk to her. She turned to her girlfriend sitting next to her holding her hand. "I'm gonna go talk to Faith," she told the young slayer as she squeezed her hand lovingly and then released it.

Kennedy just smiled up at her goddess as she stood up to leave. "You're finally seeing it aren't you?" she asked with a slight 'I told you so' ton.

Willow rolled her eyes. She hated admitting she was wrong but she was woman enough to do so. "Yeah, yeah," she admitted. "You can gloat about it later but right now I'm gonna go try and be comfort gal."

The junior slayer smiled up at the red head and took her hand in hers once again. She gave it a soft squeeze. "I love you."

The red head leaned down and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss. "I love you too," she responded with a smile. Then she let go of her hand and started to walk towards Faith.

"Good luck," Kennedy whispered under her breath.

Faith was sitting alone in the middle of a row of four chairs staring at the wall in front of her when Willow approached. She snapped out of her daze when she saw the red head sit down in one of the empty seats next to her. Somehow the air immediately became awkward and uncomfortable as soon as she sat down.

"Hey," Willow greeted uneasily. She tried to gather her thoughts and figure out what exactly she was going to say. Her intent, believe it or not, was to comfort the slayer. Willow hadn't always been a huge fan of Faith but over the past few months, and even back in Sunnydale when she's come back to help, she'd started to actually get along with her for the most part.

"Hey," Faith responded back with equal discomfort.

For a few moments they were both silent. Willow was trying to figure out how best to start the conversation. Finally she decided to just be straight forward and honest. "I just want you to know," she started, "That I know…about you and Buffy."

Faith took a deep breath and released it. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that. She figured that it was possible that some people knew about the two of them and were just waiting until they actually told them instead of just revealing that they knew. It made sense that red would know.

When the slayer couldn't seem to find words to respond Willow decide to just continue with what she wanted to say. "I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now. I just wanted you to know that…if you need anything, if you wanna talk or anything like that, I'm here."

The dark haired slayer was a little surprised when it happened but a small smile appeared on her face at Willow's generosity. She never expected the witch to be this nice. "Thanks, Red," she responded sincerely. "That means a lot."

Willow smiled back at her. "No problem. I meant it. I'm a good listener."

Faith turned to face the goddess and smiled. She wasn't really in the talking mood but it felt nice to know that there was someone willing to listen.

Only about fifteen minutes later Faith watched as Buffy's doctor walked into the waiting room. She immediately jumped out of her seat and started walking towards the doctor. She was fallowed instantly by Dawn, Willow, Giles, Xander and Kennedy. As she and the doctor met half way in the middle of the room her heart began to beat faster, and the look on the doctors face was anything but reassuring.

"How is she?" Dawn asked anxiously.

The doctor took a deep breath before responding. "Well the good news is that she made it through the surgery successfully. To be completely honest with you all, with the type of injuries that she sustained she shouldn't have even made it through the ambulance ride here. I don't know exactly how she made it but…your friend should be dead right now."

Everyone looked around at each other nervously. It wasn't shocking to them that Buffy was able to survive something that most people normally wouldn't, but what was shocking to them was the fact that this accident was _that_ serious. They'd hoped it was going to turn out to be something minor. A little six hour surgery and she would be good as new.

"She sustained severe damage to the brain," the doctor continued. "We were able to stop the bleeding and repair most of the damage."

"So what's the bad news?" Faith asked nervously.

The doctor took a deep breath before responding. "I'm afraid that the amount of damage incurred has caused Ms. Summers to slip into a coma."

Faith quickly looked away and bit her lower lip to try and control her emotions. Her eyes began to well up but she wouldn't let herself cry. Not right now.

Dawn immediately broke down at the news. She covered her mouth with her hand as she began to cry. Xander quickly stepped forward and wrapped the young woman tightly in his arms.

Willow too tried to fight back tears. Kennedy wrapped her arms around her waist and held her close protectively. "Is she going to be alright?" the red head asked through small sobs.

"We've done everything we can for her right now," the doctor responded. "We repaired the damage and we intended to place her in a drug-induced coma anyway to allow her brain to heal from the surgery. The natural coma will still allow her to heal but we've done all we can do. The rest is up to her."

"What are her chances of waking up, doctor?" Giles asked hopefully.

The doctor pursed his lips. "It's hard to tell. Believe it or not the real world isn't quite like they portray it in the movies. Coma patients often do wake up within days, sometimes even hours. However, the longer they remain comatose the less likely it is that they'll wake up."

"So there's still a good chance that she'll be fine?" Xander asked enthusiastically. He was coming through as mister optimistic once again. The gang could always count on him for that.

The doctor gave them a half smile and nodded his head. "Yes, all is not lost. There's a good chance that she'll wake up within a few days. But, I do want you all to be aware of the possibility that she won't. Coma patients are very unpredictable."

"Thank you, doctor," Giles responded.

"Can we see her?" Dawn managed to get out between sobs.

"We have her stabilized," the doctor explained. "She has the OK for visitors but we're going to have to limit it to two people at a time. She's still very sensitive right now. Her brain activity must stay farley low if she's to recuperate."

"Oh don't worry," Xander reassured, "Our Buffy's a fast healer."

"Yes, well, even so," the doctor continued. "Studies have shown that coma patients are sometimes able to still hear and understand what's going on around them. You have to be sure to try and sound optimistic and be sure not to worry her. If she senses that you're worried it could increase her own worry which will increase her brain activity."

Giles nodded his head for the group. "Yes, we understand."

The doctor nodded his head as well. "Good. Which of you would like to go in first? I'll show you to her room."

Everyone looked at Dawn. Naturally they all knew that she would be going in first since she was Buffy's sister. "I wanna go in," Dawn responded as she began to compose herself. She knew that if she cried while in the room with Buffy it might make her worry like the doctor said.

"I'll come in with you if you want Dawny," Xander offered.

Dawn smiled at his offer but then instantly turned to Faith. "Do you want to come in with me?" she asked the slayer knowing that she would want to see her girlfriend as soon as possible.

Faith was silent for a moment as they all turned to her, some with confusion at why Dawn had asked Faith of all people, and some with anticipation at what she might say. The dark haired slayer slowly shook her head. "I can't. I just…can't. Not just yet."

The youngest Scooby nodded her head understandingly. "It's ok," she comforted. Then she turned back to Xander. "Will you come in with me then?"

"Of course," Xander responded as he put a comforting arm around the young brunette.

The doctor nodded his head. "Alright then, right this way," he said as he pointed down the hall and started walking.

Faith watched numbly as Dawn and Xander walked down the hallway behind the doctor.


	15. Looking Back

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry again for taking so long to review but it's like I said. I've been really busy lately and I have no more back up chapters. I actually should have even been doing homework instead of writing this chapter lol. But anyway here it is. I hope you all enjoy it! Also thanks for reviewing everyone!

Also if anyone could explain to me how to make a break in the text, like a line to separate scenes that I see in other people's stories that would be great. I'm just beginning to realize now that the symbols I use to break the text down show up and it's driving me crazy! That's why you'll see **(Next scene)** a lot in this chapter so no one gets confused. So some please help me lol. Thanks.

Disclaimer: Some dialog is taken direction from several episodes of _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_.

Looking Back

"So…what are we gonna do here?" Buffy asked the guide masquerading as Faith. "Are we going to go on some kind of soul searching mission and look back on my life or something like that?"

Faith shrugged her shoulders. "Something like that." Then she smiled and motioned with her head for Buffy to fallow her. She held out her hand for hers. "Come on. I wanna show you something."

Buffy wasn't exactly sure what Faith was going to show her but she had a feeling that it had to do with her guess. It was probably something to do with flashbacks of her life or something along those lines. She hesitated at first and then took Faith's hand.

They didn't have to walk very far to reach their destination. When Faith stopped she released Buffy's hand and allowed her to look around. The area was still vast and a pure white coloring. It was as if they hadn't walked anywhere at all. The only difference was that the bed Buffy awoke on was no longer in view.

"Ook…so what's so special about this spot as apposed to the one we were just in?" Buffy asked with confusion.

Faith looked around for a moment and then back at the blonde slayer. She shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty much nothing. I just thought it would be more dramatic to take you somewhere else." She smiled mischievously.

Buffy rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile herself. She loved that smile. Even though she knew that none of this was actually real the apparition of her girlfriend was a carbon copy. She was Faith in every mannerism, every curve, every stance and every word. This fact comforted her. It made her feel at ease, at home.

"Right," the blonde slayer responded. "So…what now?"

"Well," the dark haired beauty began, "You pretty much hit the nail on the head, B. It's time for you to do a little soul searching, a little remembering."

Buffy smiled inwardly at the fact that she had guessed right. Then Faith slowly moved in towards her. She reached down and took the blonde's hands in her own. "I need you to look into my eyes," she requested softly.

The other slayer had no problem doing that. With the real Faith she found that she could get completely lost in those beautiful brown eyes. This Faith had the exact same ones.

She tightened her grip on the brunette's hands and looked deep into her eyes with ease.

Then suddenly Buffy didn't see those eyes anymore. It was as if she was transported some place else but something wasn't right. Something was different. As she looked on she realized what it was. She wasn't exactly in this place she'd been transported to. She was watching it as if it were a movie, but much more clear. She looked on as she waited for what it was she was supposed to see.

_As Buffy walks down a seemingly abandoned alley way she begins to realize that she's being fallowed. Ducking out of sight she finds a place to hide up above. When the man that was fallowing her shows up below her she quickly swings down and knocks him off of his feet. She then jumps down and stands above him with a foot on his chest so that he will be unable to stand._

"_Is there a problem ma'am?" the man asks._

"_Yeah, there's a problem. Why are you fallowing me?" the slayer asks with annoyance._

"_I know what you're thinking," the man responds with a small smile. "Don't worry, I don't bit."_

_**(Next scene)**_

_Buffy and Angel are in Buffy's room. The slayer has just gotten done yelling at the handsome man for reading her diary only to find out that he actually hadn't read it at all._

"_I did a lot of thinking today," Angel begins. "I really can't be around you. Because when I am…"_

_The slayer looks at him with sad eyes but tries to cover it up. "Hey, no big. Water…over the bridge, under the bridge…" she began to babble._

"_When I am, all I can ever think about is how badly I want to kiss you," Angel continues ignoring Buffy's rambles._

"…_over the damn…" the clueless slayer continues not noticing at first what Angel had said. "Kiss me?" she then asks with curiosity as realization sinks in._

"_I'm older then you and this can't ever…" Angel resumes as he looks deep into the slayers eyes longingly slowly beginning to lose his control. "I better go."_

"_H-how much older?" Buffy asks as she looks into his eyes with the same longing desire._

"_I should…" Angel began again._

"…_go," Buffy interrupts. "You said."_

_Then the two move closer together and their lips meet for the first time._

_**(Next scene)**_

_Angel and Buffy are sitting on Angel's bed, the slayer held safely in the vampire's arms._

"_I…" Angel starts to say._

_Buffy pulls away slightly to look at him. "You what?" she asked curiously._

_The vampire looks at her affectionately. "I love you." Now his expression turns to distress. "I try not to, but I can't stop."_

_**(Next scene)**_

_Tears fall down the slayer's face as she holds her lover in her arms. She kisses him tenderly but passionately._

"_I love you," Buffy whispers._

"_I love you," Angel whispers back in response._

_She closes her eyes in sorrow, pulls her sword back and quickly plunges it into the stomach of the love of her life._

_**(Next scene)**_

_The slayer and the vampire stand at the top of a hill both nearly in tears. Angel has Buffy pinned to the ground angrily._

_Buffy looks up at him with tears in her eyes. "What about me? I love you so much…and I tried to make you go away…I killed you and it didn't help." She shoves Angel off of her and begins to let the tears flow freely now._

"_And I hate it! I hate that it's so hard…and that you can hurt me so much. I know everything that you did, because you did it to me. I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. I can't."_

_**(Next scene)**_

_After defeating the Mayor, Buffy looks around on the streets filled with police, fire trucks and ambulances. She's looking for something. She finds it when she she's the dark, brooding vampire appear through the mist. Her face falls and she hugs herself tightly as they make eye contact and stair for a moment. Then she sadly watches her lover turn around and disappear into the smoke._

Buffy blinked several times a she came out of her trance. She had tears in her eyes and they were slowly threatening to fall. During her little walk down memory lane she had been able to see every detail with complete clarity. The memories flooded back and she was able to feel every feeling that she had felt all those years ago. It was as if her heart was breaking all over again.

Faith looked on at the girl with grief for her. "What did you feel?" she asked.

"Hurt, pain, heartache," the blonde slayer responded. She looked down to the ground as she tried to compose herself.

The guide sighed. "But what else did you feel? How did you feel about Angle?"

Buffy thought for a moment as she tried to figure out where Faith was going with this. She looked up at the dark slayer and responded with one simple word. "Love. I loved him so much," she added sadly.

The brunette smiled and nodded her head. "You really did. Everyone thought the two of you were forever. If it wasn't for the whole vampire thing you probably would have been."

"I don't understand," Buffy said with confusion. "What does this have to do with anything? Angel is a part of my past. The two of us can never work out. We both know that and have accepted it and moved on."

"You'll understand soon enough," Faith responded. "But there's more that I have to show you first." Once again the dark slayer took the blonde's hands in hers. She looked into her eyes to get her to do the same.

Buffy hesitated at first. She had basically just gone throw her entire heartbreaking relationship with Angel all over again. She was afraid of what she might see next. As scared as she was, she decided to go along with it anyway. She looked into the guide's eyes once again and within moments she was taken away.

_As Buffy and Willow walk into the library searching for books Buffy attempts to grab one that it way too high for her to reach. In her attempts she accidentally causes the books to fall on top of a very handsome man._

"_Oh god. I'm so sorry," the slayer says apologetically._

"_It's ok. I'm ok," the young man responds. "Well, that was bracing. I'm Riley," he adds introducing himself._

"_Willow," the red head introduces, "And this is my friend Buffy."_

"_It's nice to meet you both," Riley responds._

_**(Next scene)**_

_Buffy walks along the silent town trying to maintain order in all of the kayos. As she looks on at two men about to fight each other she finds that Riley is already there to take care of the situation._

_When the two see each other they immediately come together and hug. They make sure each is alright. When a crash is heard Riley indicates that he has to go. Buffy indicates that she should go as well. They both start to walk away but Riley holds on to the slayer and pulls her back into his arms for their first kiss._

_**(Next scene)**_

_At the Bronze Riley asks Buffy to dance. They put their arms around each other and begin to dance slowly to the soft music._

"_Buffy I want you to know," Riley starts to say._

"_Do we have to talk?" Buffy asks. "No talk, more dance."_

"_I just want to say I'm sorry," Riley continues anyway. "That it's only you that I want."_

"_I know," Buffy responds looking up at him. "I know all of that."_

_Riley looks at her with surprise on his face. "You do?" Buffy nods her head in response. "Since when?"_

"_Since you put your arms around me."_

_**(Next scene)**_

_The happy couple has just had a fight about some of Riley's extracurricular activities of late. Both Buffy and Riley are extremely upset but more so on Buffy's part._

_Buffy walks past Riley, grabs her coat and starts to leave._

"_I'm leaving, Buffy," Riley says before the slayer is able to walk out the door._

_Buffy stops walking but doesn't turn to face him. He turns to face her back as he continues. "Unless you give me a reason to stay…I'm leaving tonight."_

_The slayer doesn't say a word. She opens the door and walks out leaving Riley there alone._

_**(Next scene)**_

_Later that same night Buffy realizes what she'll be losing if she lets Riley go. She runs as fast as she can to the place where her boyfriend will be picked up by the military and taken away._

_She reaches her destination only to find out that she's too late. She watches as the helicopter, which has already left the ground, quickly flies higher and higher. "Riley!" she yells, but it's no use. Riley is gone._

Just as it appeared that Buffy would be coming out of her trance, just as she had with the visions of Angel, she was forced back in for another round.

_As Buffy hangs out with her friend's at the Bronze she overhears a British man in the background talking about someone attempting to bit someone outside. Her slayer instincts kick in and she rushed outside._

_When she gets outside she finds a vampire biting a young woman. She pulls him away and quickly disposes of him._

"_Nice work, love," she hears the same British voice from before say to her._

_She turns around to see a handsome bleach blonde man standing behind her with a conniving smile on his face._

_**(Next scene)**_

_Buffy pretends to be the Buffybot as she walks into Spike's crypt. He is beaten, bruised and bloody._

"_Why did you let that Glory hurt you?" the slayer asks._

"_Cause Buffy…the other, not so pleasant Buffy…anything happened to Dawn, it'd destroy her," the beaten vampire responded. "I couldn't live, her bein in that much pain. I'd let Glory kill me first. Near bloody did."_

_She leans in close to him and kisses him softly. He begins to kiss her back until he realizes that it's not the Buffybot, it's the real Buffy._

_**(Next scene)**_

_After Buffy was brought back from the dead she and Spike are engaging in a little small talk. Then Spike makes the conversation more serious._

"_I want you to know that I did save you," he begins. "Not when it counted, of course, but…after that. Every night after that. I'd see it all again…do something different. Faster or more cleaver you know? Dozens of times, lots of different ways." He then adds softly, "Every night I save you."_

_**(Next scene)**_

_Buffy and Spike are standing outside of the Bronze as her singing friends are heard inside._

"_Spike," Buffy says pleadingly._

"_Look, you don't have to say anything," the vampire responds._

"_I touch the fire and it freezes me," the slayer sings._

"_I died…" Spike starts to sing as well as the two begin to slowly walk closer to each other._

"_I look into it and it's black," Buffy continues to sing._

"…_so many years ago," Spike continues as well._

"_This isn't real," Buffy continues as they begin to sing in unison._

"_But you can make me…"_

"_But I just wanna feel," they both hold the last note on 'feel' as they move closer together._

_They finish the short song and then passionately kiss one another._

_**(Next scene)**_

_Buffy sits on a foreign bed in a state of depression. Spike kneels down next to the bed and looks up at her searchingly._

"_You listen to me," Spike begins. "I've been alive a bit longer than you, and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, and done things I prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain. So I make a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of...you."_

_Buffy looks away._

"_Hey, look at me," the vampire continues. "I'm not asking you for anything. When I say, 'I love you,' it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy."_

_**(Next scene)**_

"_Spike!" Buffy yells as she sees bright light emanating from the vampire. She rushes to his side._

"_I gotta do this," Spike says as he puts his hands out in front of him as if to braise himself._

_Buffy franticly looks around, then at Spike, and then at his hands. She lasses her fingers through Spike's and their interlocked hands burst into flam. Buffy chocks up a little trying to hold back the tears of sadness and pain._

_She then looks into his eyes. "I love you."_

"_No you don't," the vampire responds, "But thanks for saying it."_

This time when Buffy felt as if she was going to come out of the trance she actually did. Once again tears were pooling in her eyes as she thought back on the memories of her other two past lovers.

"What did you feel for Riley and Spike?" Faith asked as she looked into the blonde's eyes as if she were searching for the answer there. "Did you feel the same love that you felt with Angel?"

Buffy thought for a moment. Deep down she'd known the answer to this question for a long time now, she just never really allowed herself to admit it. She slowly shook her head in response to Faith's question. "No…I didn't. I tried to. I even thought I did at the time…for both of them. But I didn't." She looked down at the ground shamefully. "I cared about Riley and Spike a lot…but I never loved them."

The brunette smiled slightly and nodded her head in understanding. "Are you starting to see where I'm going with this?"

Buffy looked back up at Faith and nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, I think I am," she responded. "You're going to show me Faith next right? I look back at my past relationships and asses them and now that's going to help me figure out how I feel about my present relationship right?"

"Right," the guide responded. "You catch on quick."

Once again the guide moved in closer to Buffy and took her hands. "It's time for your last journey, B. Let's make it a good one."


	16. Fighting

A/N: Hey everyone! This is kind of a short and somewhat uneventful chapter compared to my other ones. I was going to make it longer but I thought the last part would be the perfect chapter ending. Hopefully you all still enjoy it anyway. Thanks so much for all of your reviews! It's what keeps me going.

Fighting

It was a pretty chilly night for summer. Then again, this was Cleveland. Spending so much time in California almost made Faith forget that it was even possible for it to be less than seventy degrees in the summer, whether it be day or night. That was kind of weird though since she grew up in Boston. You'd think she would b used to the cold. She reached her hands inside her pockets and shrugged up her shoulders to try and keep warm.

Luckily though, things started to heat up when she saw a group of about five vamps strolling down an alley. To the normal observer they would have just been a group of possible gang members but Faith knew better. She could sense who they really were. She could feel them.

"Score," she let out softly with a triumphant smile. She fallowed the vamps into the alley and as soon they were out of site from civilian life she spoke up. "Looks like it's your lucky day, boys. A poor defenseless girl fallowing you into an alley with no idea what she's in for."

There were four guy vamps and one girl. All five turned around at the same time and all five were ready and waiting with smiles on their vampire faces. Some of the smiles slowly began to fade though as they noticed that the poor defenseless girl didn't seem to be scared of them.

"Only problem with that whole theory is that…I'm not really a poor defenseless girl," Faith continued. "In fact, I'm more like a wicked hot slayer with a lot of emotions that I really need to take out on someone…or some thing." Her teasing smile slowly faded as she readied herself for battle. "Care to help me out?"

Three out of the five vamps, two of the guys and the girl, looked as if they might piss themselves at Faith's mention of being a slayer. They began looking around the entire alley as if they were expecting an entire ambush to take place. These vampires obviously knew about slayers and knew that there were now a very numerous amount of them in the world, quite a few making stakes right here in Cleveland…literally.

Instead of looking scared the other two looked excited and even confident. Either these ones were extremely new and didn't know about slayers or they just had a death wish. Either way, Faith didn't care. All she saw them as were punching bags, future piles of dust.

Unfortunately for the slayer, as soon as the two with a death wish advanced on her, the other three bolted as if their lives depended on it…which they actually did. There was no worrying about them now though. She had to focus on the other two. It didn't really matter too much though. She only needed one vamp to beat into a bloody pulp while venting her frustrations. One was all she needed. Two was a bonus.

The first vamp was big. He looked like he was probably one of those bikers that just travel the world on their hogs with their crew. He was tall, muscular and slightly overweight. The other one was scrawnier but equally as tall.

Biker was the first to attack. He rushed towards her with his fists clenched tightly to his sides. When he reached her he went to grab her by her neck thinking this was going to be a piece of cake. Looks like he didn't have a death wish after all, he just clearly didn't know what a slayer was.

Faith batted his hand out of the way and sent a swift uppercut to his jaw catching him off guard. She then proceeded to knee him where the sun doesn't shin and then send a left hook to his cheek. He was on the ground within seconds. This vamp was definitely a newbie. Faith was expecting a lot bigger of a challenge from such a big vamp.

Scrawny quickly took Biker's place and started sending a series of rapid punches to Faith's face. But she was ready for him. She blocked every punch he sent. When he realized that his tactics weren't working he switched to using his feet. He sent a roundhouse kick to Faith's head. She ducked in perfect time and when she stood back up she spin kicked him across his face.

The vampire faltered a little but he wasn't down yet. By this time the first vamp was recovering from the blow he received to his manhood and he was anything but a happy camper. He ran up behind Faith and tackled her to the ground just as she sent skinny boy flying across the alley.

Faith was caught a little off guard but she quickly took the upper hand rolling the oversized vamp so that she was on top. "Sorry slick, but I like it better on top," she quipped.

She then punched him across the face once, twice, three times. And she just kept going. The fire in her eyes that she always had while slaying was now changed into deep, heated anger and hatred. She continued to hit the vampire more times then she could count.

But she was interrupted by Scrawny. After recovering the second vamp pulled the slayer off of his buddy and threw her into the wall. Faith quickly braced herself and was unharmed by the collision, but she was pissed. She was interrupted and Faith hated to be interrupted.

Before the second vampire even knew what was going on Faith was kicking and punching him until he was backed up into the other wall. She held him against the wall by pressing her forearm against his throat. It wasn't as if this would choke him, since vampires don't need to breath, but Faith knew that it would hurt him like hell.

She kneed him in his special place but didn't let him go. "You pieces of shit," she said to him through gritted teeth. Then she punched him in his nose. "I don't care which one of you did it," she continued angrily. She sent a right hook to his jaw. "I'm going to hunt down and kill every single one of you. She had to have been chasing one of you. It's the only thing that makes any sense. She wouldn't just jump out in the middle of the fucking street when a car was coming." She began yelling at the end as her anger was building.

The vampire looked like he was in extreme pain and was also extremely confused. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," he said after spitting out a few teeth. She hit him again, harder then the other hits just for opening his mouth.

"Fuck you!" she yelled at him. She then continued to repeatedly punch him in the face over and over and over again. "You son of a bitch," she yelled some more and then continued with the beating. She kept hitting until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She stopped for a moment but didn't let the vampire go. She turned around with gritted teeth and the faintest bit of tears in her eyes. When she turned around she saw Kennedy standing behind her with worried eyes. "Faith…just let him go," the junior slayer instructed softly and calmly.

Faith looked back to the vampire. She hadn't even realized it before but she had beaten him so hard that his face wasn't even recognizable anymore. She looked at her fist and realized that there was blood all over it, but it wasn't her blood. Then she looked back at the vampire again. If she would have kept hitting he probably would have dusted in a matter of a few more minutes. He would have had no head left at all and would have dusted from decapitation, that's how hard and how much she had been hitting him.

The slayer pulled out a stake, plunged it into the vampire's heart and watched as it turned to dust. She then took a moment to compose herself before turning around to face Kennedy.

When she turned around the first thing she noticed was that Biker was gone. A look of panic then appeared on her face. "There was another vamp…" she started to say.

"I killed him," Kennedy quickly reassured her. "Although I doubt he would have gone far after what you did to him."

Once again Faith looked down at her bloody hands. She had taken things a little too far and she knew it. She was just so angry. This was always the way she took out that anger, through fighting. It always made her feel just that little bit better. This time it wasn't working though. This time she just felt disgusted with herself and if possible even more pissed off then she was to begin with.

Kennedy watched the girl sadly. "Faith…you can't just keep taking out what happened to Buffy on every vampire you see."

"Well someone has to pay," Faith snapped angrily. She looked at the junior slayer and realized that yelling at her wasn't going to make her feel better either. "Look…I'm sorry Kennedy it's just…this is the only way I know how to deal with this stuff ok."

The younger slayer sighed. She knew that Faith was upset but she was handling it in all the wrong ways. It had been two weeks since Buffy was hit by a car and put into a coma and Faith hadn't visited the blonde once. She would just keep giving them excuses as to why she didn't want to. She would tell them that it wouldn't do any good anyway because despite what the doctors say no one can hear you when you're in a coma, and she knew that from experience.

"You have to go see her, Faith," Kennedy finally said after a short pause. Faith was about to open her mouth to say something but Kennedy cut her off knowing full well that she was going to try and make up an excuse. "I know you say it won't do any good for her, but I think it'll be good for you."

Faith scrunched up her face in slight annoyance. "You think it'll be good for me?" she asked defensively. "You think it'll be good for me to see her like that? I think you're wrong kid. Way wrong."

The older slayer bottled up her feelings as she always did and confidently walked right passed the junior slayer. However, this time Kennedy wasn't going to take it. She turned around, ran to catch up with Faith, grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"Easy there brat," the brunette shot. "You don't just run up a grab a pissed off slayer's arm like that unless your willing to party."

"Cut the crap, Faith," Kennedy shot back angrily. She wasn't going to take anymore of Faith's shit. It was time for her to grow up and start showing some emotion. "Just drop the tough girl act alright. This whole act you're putting on is bull, and you know it. I know you're hurting right now but that hurt is not going to go away by cutting yourself off."

"The hurting isn't going to go away at all kid," Faith snapped back. "Not until she's ok again."

"Then you have to be here for her until she is," the younger slayer responded calmly. She wasn't going to give up on this no matter how hard Faith tried shutting her out. "I know you think you're being strong for her by not breaking down but that's not how it works."

Faith looked as if she was about to respond but she didn't. She simply looked to the ground shamefully as she began to realize that Kennedy might be right.

"Willow told me all about when you were in a coma," Kennedy continued. "She told me that even after everything you'd said and done to Buffy she still went to visit you every now and then."

Faith's head shot up, her eyes meeting Kennedy's. She never knew that. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She knew that Buffy had visited her a few times but Kennedy was making it sound like it had been almost like a once a week kind of thing.

"I don't know if you knew that or not but apparently she would try to go at least once a week," the junior slayer added to Faith's surprise.

The brunette thought for a moment. She would have never guessed that. Buffy was a sweet kid and all but after all Faith had done to her she figured that even if Buffy was the friggen pope she wouldn't have forgiven her and gone to visit her.

Kennedy sighed as she watched the other slayer. "If anything, you owe it to her to go in there and visit her. She needs you, Faith."

After another moment or two, Faith slowly nodded her head. She knew it was finally time to face her fears. Kennedy was right, Faith thought she was just trying to be strong for Buffy but not being there for he wasn't being strong. It was finally time for her to be strong.

"Alright," the older slayer responded weakly. "Let's go see my girl."


	17. Faith

A/N: Hey everyone, really sorry that I've been taking so long to update but I just haven't had the time to write. I had finals for school and then a trip to Florida but I've finally had the time to write and I'm finally posting the next chapter. YAY!!! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I'll try not to make it so long before I post again this time. Thanks for being patient and for all your reviews!

Suggestion: I also suggest that you reread the end of the chapter, "Looking Back," if this chapter starts out slightly confusing. I actually had to do the same and I'm the one who wrote to damn thing. Its been so long that it just might be a good refresher and make things more clear.

Disclaimer: Some lines are taken directly from several episodes of the series _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_ and _Angel_. I did not write these lines and I am in no way attempting to steel them and use them as my own.

**Faith**

Once again the guide moved in closer to Buffy and took her hands. "It's time for your last journey, B. Let's make it a good one."

Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to ready herself for what she was about to see. She then opened her eyes and allowed them to meet Faith's. She looked deep into her dark pools and tried to open up her heart and hopefully find what she was looking for.

_As Buffy rushes out of the Bronze in search of a vampire that may be attacking a young girl so notices the couple in an alley. The man vamps out and leans in towards the girl's neck but before he is able to take a bite she grabs him by the neck, pushes him away from her a little and then elbow jabs him in his face._

_Buffy, slightly confused, starts to advance on them to help but is stopped by the girl._

"_It's ok, I got it," the girl reassures her. "You're, uh, Buffy, right?"_

_Before Buffy is able to speak the vampire advances on the girl again only to be headbutted by her. The girl smiles at Buffy._

"_I'm Faith."_

_XXXXXXX_

_Buffy fallows after Faith as she walks out of the school._

"_Faith, wait," Buffy yells to get her attention. "Look I know this new guy is a dork, but…" She pauses. "Well, I have nothing to fallow that. He's pretty much just a dork."_

"_You're actually gonna take orders from him?" Faith asks, clearly aggravated._

_Buffy simply shrugs her shoulders. "That's the job. What else can we do?"_

"_Whatever we want," Faith answers brightly. "We're slayers, girlfriend. The Chosen Two."_

_XXXXXXX_

_As Buffy ascends to the roof of Angel's place a helicopter can be heard in the background._

"_You're not gonna run, Faith," Buffy exclaims as she sees the girl on the roof with her back to the blonde slayer._

"_What do you wanna do?" Faith asks detached, "Throw me off the roof…again?"_

"_Any reason why I shouldn't?" Buffy asks angrily as she crosses her arms over her chest._

_Faith turns around to face the other slayer and regards her with great emotion in her eyes. "There is nothing I can do for you, B. I can't ever make it right."_

_Buffy looks back at the dark slayer as her anger builds. "So you're just going to take off again. Leave us to clean up yet another one of your messes."_

"_It would make things easier for you," Faith responds._

"_Till you got bored with the whole guilt thing…decided to come back to shake things up?"_

"_That's not gonna happen," the dark haired slayer snaps back._

"_You're right. It's not," the smaller girl responds forcefully._

_Faith looks back at Buffy searching deep inside of her for any chance that she might still be able to forgive her._

"_Just tell me how to make it better."_

_XXXXXX_

_Buffy falls to the ground as the Turok-Han takes it's sword out of her gut. As she lies on the ground she hears a familiar voice crying out._

"_Buffy!" Faith yells with worry. She rushes to the blonde slayer's side and looks over her wound._

_The injured slayer looks up at Faith and leans on her elbows weakly. "Hold the line." She looks into the other slayers eyes as she entrusts her to take over the leadership._

_XXXXXX_

_An extremely frustrated Buffy finally catches up with the detached Faith. When she puts her hand on the girl's shoulder to try and stop her from continuing to walk away she is greeted with a backhanded fist to the jaw._

_Faith turns to Buffy, and realizing what she's done suddenly starts to feel very guilty. "Oh man. I'm sorry, Buffy. I just…"_

_Before the slayer is able to finish she receives the same backhanded hit that she dished out._

_Both slayers look at each other with rage. Before either knows what's going on Faith takes Buffy's face in her hands and pulls her into a crushing, but passionate kiss._

_XXXXXX_

_Buffy and Faith are sitting on the bed of a motel room trying to talk about how they feel about each other._

"_Ok, I'm not really sure what's going on here, but I know that there is something going on here," Buffy starts. "And I know that doesn't make any sense really and I'm trying to make sense of it but its hard…to…make sense of." She then pauses as she tries to find words to continue. "I'm sorry. This is coming out all wrong."_

_Faith smiles and moves a little closer so that she could put a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder. "It's cool. You're trying. That's a start right?"_

_Buffy turns to Faith and smiles. "See. Like that right there."_

"_What?" Faith asks with confusion._

"_You," Buffy responds with another smile. "The feel of your hand on my shoulder, the sound of your voice. It makes me feel…calmer, better. I don't know where that came from, but its there."_

_She pauses for a moment and moves a little closer to the younger slayer._

"_It's like…I'm seeing you differently now," Buffy continues. "When I see you…when I'm around you…I can't even really explain it. And last night…Just falling asleep in your arms, I felt…content. I felt like it was where I was supposed to be, where I was meant to be."_

_XXXXXX_

_Buffy smiles as she tries to explain to her sister the relationship she has with Faith._

"_I'm happy Dawny. I can't really remember the last time I could say that with a smile on my face and actually mean it."_

_Her sister can't help but smile back at her as she waits for Buffy to continue._

"_It's like…every time she walks into the room a smile automatically appears on my face. When I'm with her…I immediately know that there's no place else I'd rather be. And when I'm holding her, and she's holding me…it's like the world dissolves and we're the only two people that exist."_

_XXXXXX_

_As the two slayers argue Faith tries to calm herself down and lay everything out on the table._

"_Look," she starts softly, "I understand that you don't want to come out yet because you're not ready. What I don't understand is why you're not ready. I can't just except that you're not ready, but that you have no reason why."_

_She pauses for a moment before continuing._

"_I do understand why I'm ready though," Faith continues. "I think I'm falling in love with you, Buffy." Then she shakes her head realizing that she meant to say something else._

"_No. You know what, that's not even true. I KNOW I'm in love with you. You always hear people say that when you fall in love you just know," she continues. "I never got that. I've never been in love before so I didn't really understand. I thought there had to be something that would trigger it, but there really isn't. I don't know how I know that I love you, Buffy. I just know that I do."_

_She pauses again as Buffy still says nothing._

"_I never thought I'd find someone like you, Buffy. I never thought I could possibly be this happy ever in my life. But I think I've figured out why you're not ready and why you don't want to tell them. You don't want them to know…because you don't love me."_

The other times that Buffy had come out of her trance from the visions she was close to tears. This time she came out of it in much the same way, only this time she was unable to contain the tears. They were flowing freely from her eyes as the pain of hearing those last words from Faith lingered in her mind.

As soon as the face that the guide was wearing became visible to Buffy once again, she closed her eyes tightly not wanting to look at her.

A million different emotions were running through the blonde slayers mind all at once. The visions she was shown brought them all to the surface and at first she was having trouble shorting through them all.

Millions of different emotions had always been involved when it came to Faith. She had that affect on Buffy since the first day they met.

However, through all of the overwhelming emotions that Buffy was feeling there was one that stuck out among the rest. There was one emotion that she could clearly pick out from the others, one emotion that was feeling much stronger then all of the rest.

When she felt that she had her tears under control, she opened her eyes and looked deep into the guide's eyes.

"I love her," she said sincerely. "I love her more then I could have ever realized."

The guide smiled back at Buffy in response. "I know. I've known that all along, which means that you've known it all along too, B."

Buffy looked back at the guide with confusion. "So…why did I go through all of this then? If I already knew, why did I have to go on this little vision quest?"

The dark haired girl smiled. "To bring it to the surface, B. It's true that you've know that you love Faith all along, but you knew it subconsciously. For some reason you just didn't want to let yourself know just how strongly you feel for her."

"Why would I do that?" Buffy asked curiously.

Faith let out a small laugh. "You know why, Buffy. Just let yourself think about it for a second."

Buffy simply dropped her head slightly. She knew that she didn't really need to think about it. The guide was right. She knew exactly why she hadn't been able to allow herself to feel the love that she felt for Faith.

She sighed and then glanced back up at the face of her lover. Guilt and pain could be clearly seen on her face as she began to speak.

"I'm afraid of love."

"Bingo," Faith conformed.

"After everything that happened with Angel, I felt like I wouldn't be able to ever love again," the blonde girl began to explain with extreme emotion in her eyes. "I loved him so much," she added as tears once again began to form in her eyes.

"But he hurt you," Faith continued for her. "He hurt you more then you'd ever admit, and that scared you. It made you wonder if that's always how it would be. It made you think that it wouldn't be possible for you to love without being hurt."

A stray tear managed to escape from Buffy's eye. It slowly ran down her cheek as she continued to listen to the part of her that had always known everything that she was hearing right now.

"Riley," she continued, "and even Spike, they loved you with everything in their bodies. They loved you more then they'd ever loved anyone else in their entire lives, and for Spike, that's a very long time."

The taller girl paused for a moment before continuing. She looked at Buffy. She watched as more and more pain surfaced with every word that sunk in, because she knew that everything she was hearing was completely true.

"But you couldn't love them," she added. "You wouldn't let yourself. You were afraid of getting hurt. You were afraid that you would lose them, like you lost Angel."

Buffy lowered her head and let another tear fall. Then she sniffled a little, raised her head to face Faith once again, and nodded her head.

"Well, I've got news for yah, B," the dark haired girl began. "You got hurt anyway. If you don't let love in, if you don't let it run through you, let it take you over when it's meant to happen, you're just gonna get hurt anyway."

Now Buffy's mood was finally changing. She stood up taller and whipped the tears from her cheeks. All of this was like a huge awakening for her. She'd lost two great chances at love and she wasn't about to lose another one.

"I have to tell her," she said steadily and triumphantly. "I can't die knowing that she thinks I don't love her. She has to know. I have to tell her how much she means to me. I have to tell her how much I love her."

The guide smiled at her brightly. "That's the spirit, B."

"What do I do?" the shorter slayer asked determinately. "I need to wake up. How do I wake up?"

"All you have to do is want it, B," the guide answered. "You're a slayer. Slayers are fighters. They don't die easily. Are you gonna let something like getting hit by a car stop you?"

A smile slowly began to grow on Buffy's face as she clenched her fists. She shook her head and responded, "No. No…I'm not."

Faith nodded her head in approval. "There's the Buffy we all know and love. Good luck with everything. I'll be seein yah." And with that said, the guide turned away from Buffy and started to walk off into the nothingness.

The confused slayer started to walk after her. "Wait! You said all I have to do is want it. Well…I want it. So why am I not awake yet?"

The guide smiled with her back still turned to Buffy. "Just fallow my voice, B. I'll lead you home."

Buffy simply watched with a still confused look on her face as Faith continued to walk and faded away in the distance as if she was smoke that was merely dissipating.

Before the slayer had a chance to question or even think about what the guide could have meant by what she said, she could hear a faint sound in the distance. At first she couldn't really make out what it was but it didn't take long for her to realize that it was a voice, a soft, sweet, familiar voice.

"_Hey, B."_

The blonde slayer looked up into the vast white nothingness. "Faith?"


	18. I'm Sorry

I'm Sorry

"Hey, B," Faith said softly as she walked into the all too quiet hospital room.

From the moment she walked into the room there were shivers traveling up and down her spin. She hated hospitals, and for good reason. But that wasn't even what was causing the bulk of the shivers. That was being caused by seeing Buffy lie there helplessly on the hospital bed.

She wasn't used to this. She wasn't used to seeing her girlfriend in this state. Buffy was a hell of a fighter, the best. So seeing her there unmoving was not sitting well with Faith at all, to say the least.

For a few moments she merely stood there, taking in all of her surroundings. She took in the sights of the numerous, beautiful bouquets of flowers left by the blonde slayer's friends and family. She took in the dull color of the walls and of the sheets on the bed, and she took in the sight of the various machines that Buffy was hooked up to.

That last sight was the most frightening and reality shocking of the bunch. She took a moment to glance at the various computers and IV hookups set up intricately around Buffy's bed. Those machines were the only thing preventing the room from being completely silent.

Faith took a moment to listen as the computers made small beeps as differently shaped lines traveled across the screens. It was unnerving, and at the same time comforting because it kept the silence away.

After sizing up the room the nervous younger slayer made her way to Buffy's bedside.

She'd always prided herself on never being the sappy, emotional type but this situation was quickly changing all of that. The closer she got to the sleeping blonde, the more tears began to well up in the once rouge slayer's eyes.

"I uh…I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come see you, B," Faith apologized as she reached Buffy's side. "I really didn't mean to take this long. I guess…I guess I just couldn't bear the thought of seeing you like this."

Faith watched the sleeping slayer very intently as she spoke almost as if she was expecting a reaction of some sort. But there was none.

She looked away with disappointment for a moment. She would never admit it to anyone but she had been half expecting Buffy to wake up just from the sound of her voice. It was an extremely crazy notion but it didn't stop Faith from hoping.

As she continued to try and fight back tears, Faith was able to once again bring herself to look at Buffy. She slowly reached her hand to the other slayer's face and tenderly brushed a stray piece of blonde hair away from her already completely healed face.

"You know, I gotta say B, you pull off the whole coma thing really well," Faith said with a small smile to try and lighten her own mood. "You still look as hot as ever."

Her efforts to keep the mood light weren't working very well though as the smile she had been trying so hard to keep quickly faded.

The younger slayer's hand moved away from Buffy's face and found its way to her hand. She gently laced her fingers with the blonde's and held onto her tightly as if she was afraid that she would lose her if she let go.

She clenched her lips together tightly in one final attempt to stop the tears from flowing. But it was no use. She lowered her head in shame as the tears began to run down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Buffy," she said through her soft sobs. She lifted her head to once again be able to look at the sleeping beauty. "I'm really trying to be strong for you. I'm usually really good at stuff like that…but when it comes to you…everything is different. You turn my world upside-down."

Faith then paused for a moment to try and find the words she was looking for to explain what she'd just said, what she was feeling. It didn't take her long to find them.

"I've never felt this way about anyone else before, B," she explained sincerely as she opened up her heart to the sleeping slayer before her. "It's kind of scary sometimes yah know? Now that we're together…I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

She paused once again as the tears started to flow more fiercely. She tried to get them under control but it wasn't easy. Faith wasn't used to feeling these kinds of emotions and she certainly wasn't used to showing them, even when there weren't any conscious people around to see. It was almost as if now that the flood gates were opening she wasn't sure if she would be able to close them.

"You can't leave me," the taller slayer said softly as she was able to slightly compose herself. "I need you here with me. I love you…and I'm sorry that I caused a fight the other night. I could really care less if the others never know about us. As long as we're together…that's all that matters to me."

Faith tiredly wiped at her eyes as she continued to fight back tears. For a moment she was able to control herself. She was beginning to get back that patented Faith composure.

"Buffy please," the distraught slayer pleaded as she held Buffy's hand tightly. "Please, I know I'm not great with the whole relationship thing yet, but if you come back to me I promise I'll do whatever it takes to make things work. I just need you to come back to me."

The dark haired slayer closed her eyes tightly and then gently rested her head on the sleeping slayer's stomach with her hand still tightly clenched to Buffy's. Before giving up on speech, Faith softly whispered five more words.

"Please come back to me."

As Faith lay there almost silently now with her head rested on her slayer she was almost about to drift off to sleep. Between the lack of sleep she'd been receiving ever since the accident and the warmth of Buffy's body once again pressed against her own, she felt herself slowly drifting away to sleep.

However, before she was fully taken away by her fatigue she felt something that immediately caused the exhaustion to disappear.

At first she thought it was just a dream, but as she raised her head and looked at Buffy's hand in hers she realized that it was real. She watched with amazement as the blonde slayer's thumb was gently rubbing against the soft skin of Faith's hand.

Without hesitation Faith's eyes quickly moved from her and Buffy's interlocking hands to the older slayer's face. She watched hopefully with tears once again welling up as Buffy's eyes slowly began to flicker open.

The tears began to flow as she watched the weak slayer blink her way back into existence. Her free hand slowly moved to gently caress Buffy's face.

In that moment Faith had more relief, happiness and love in her heart then she had ever felt before in her entire life. It was a crazy notion that just the sound of her voice would bring Buffy back, but it had. It was either that or her touch, but which ever it was didn't matter to Faith. All that mattered was that Buffy was awake.

A bright smile appeared on the dark haired slayer's face as Buffy's tired eyes finally met hers.

She took a deep breath and simply said, "Welcome back, B."

When Buffy first opened her eyes she felt a little disoriented. The last thing that she remembered was being lost in nothingness trying extremely hard to find her way back home, back to Faith.

She could remember hearing her voice and wishing so intensely that she could just see her face and look deeply into those brown pools that she found herself so frequently getting lost in. The next thing she knew she could feel a hand tightly clutching her own. She closed her eyes at the feel of Faith's touch and when she opened them once again the beautiful slayer was standing before her with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

"Faith," Buffy whispered softly as she tried to find her voice that hadn't been used in what felt like ages.

At first she was still confused. She wasn't exactly sure where she was or what was going on. "So," she started with a horse, raspy voice, "Are you the real Faith, or the one that's in my head?"

The taller slayer smiled a little brighter and even let out a small laugh as she wondered if the accident had made Buffy a little crazy. "I'm pretty sure I'm the real one, B."

That was when Buffy was beginning to realize what was happening. The guide in her mind had told her to fallow its voice, Faith's voice, home. And that's what she'd done. She was back.

Tears of joy began to well up in the blonde slayer's eyes. She'd been given a second chance at love and as she looked up into the smiling eyes of her girlfriend she vowed to herself that this time she wasn't going to screw it up.

"Baby, I'm so sorry," Buffy managed to say hoarsely as tears began to run down her cheek.

"Shhh," Faith whispered gently. She softly caressed the side of Buffy's face with a bright smile that she found she was unable to remove. "It's ok, Baby. You probably shouldn't try and talk. I should go get the doctor now so they can make sure that everything's five by five."

Faith started to pull her hand away to leave but before she could Buffy weakly raised both her arms and held on to Faith's.

"No, please," the older slayer said with pleading eyes. "I _need_ you to hear this. Please just stay with me."

The taller slayer knew immediately that there was no arguing with those eyes so instead of leaving she gently sat down on Buffy's bed simply enjoying the fact that she was once again able to look deep into those beautiful green eyes.

Buffy smiled as she continued to try and control her tears so that she could get out what she had to say more easily. But it wasn't easy for her to compose herself. She was so happy to be back that she felt like she may never be able to stop crying.

"I am _so_ sorry, Faith," Buffy began sadly. There was so much that needed to be said, but those words were the ones that needed to be said first and the most often. "I know that I made you feel like you were just my dirty little secret and I can't even tell you how sorry I am and how disgusted I am with myself."

Faith shook her head almost as if to just shrug it all off. Buffy was right. She had made Faith feel like a dirty secret but that just didn't seem to matter to her anymore. All that mattered was that her girlfriend was ok.

She gave the weak slayer a kind and gentle smile. "It's ok, B. None of that matters. All that matters is…"

"No!" Buffy interrupted dramatically. "It does matter, Faith. I never should have treated you like that. I made you think that I didn't love you, that I couldn't love you."

The blonde paused for a moment to take a break from talking. Her throat was sore, dry and unused so talking at all was quite painful. But that wasn't about to stop her from saying what she needed to say.

"I _do_ love you, Faith," Buffy continued. She had been somewhat able to keep herself composed before, but the tears were once again threatening to fall. "I love you _so_ much."

Those words just seemed to make the world disappear. Faith had been waiting to here those words coming out of Buffy's mouth in relation to her for what seemed like her whole life. The way that Faith felt at that moment was indescribable because as she looked into the other slayer's eyes she knew that every word was true. Buffy really was in love with her.

Now the tears were falling freely from Buffy's eyes, only this time they weren't tears of joy. This time they were tears of fear, regret, and most of all worry.

"Please don't leave me," she exclaimed in a fit of tears. "I promise I'll be better just please…please don't leave me. I don't know what I'd do without you, Faith. Please…please…please," she continued to say through her sobs.

Faith's heart broke at the site of this. She remembered that she had told Buffy that she might leave her when they had a fight, but after everything that had happened and all the thinking she'd done, leaving Buffy was the farthest thing from her mind.

She immediately scooted herself closer to her slayer and pulled her into a tight embrace placing light, tender kisses on the top of her head.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby," Faith whispered to her softly as Buffy continued to cry in her arms. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

For a little while the two slayers simply held each other in silence not saying a word. The only sound that could be heard was the soft sobs of Buffy. But it wasn't long before the silence was broken.

"Buffy," a small nervous, but relieved, voice could be heard. The sound of Dawn's voice broke the slayers from their embrace as they both turned to look at her.

Dawn had heard Buffy's sobs when she was about to walk into the hospital room so she knew that she was awake, but the emotion of that fact didn't fully hit her until Faith was moved out of the way and her fully awake older sister was sat up in the bed with a smile on her tear stained face.

A bright smile immediately appeared on the youngest Scooby's face as she rushed to her sister and wrapped her in the tightest embrace she could muster.

"You're ok," Dawn pointed out happily as tears of joy began to flow from in her eyes.

"I'm ok," Buffy confirmed. "I'm really really ok," she added as she looked up at Faith standing behind Dawn with a loving smile on her face.

The young brunette pulled away from the hug as she realized that Buffy and Faith were having a moment. She smiled with excitement.

"Did you guys make up?" she asked as if she didn't already know the answer to that question. "Because you guys better have made up or I'm locking you both in this hospital room until you do."

Both slayers laughed a little at Dawn's comment. Neither one of them would really have a problem with being locked in a room together. They'd made up verbally but there were other, more fun ways to make up as well. However the hospital room was not the right place and this was not the right time for any of that so Buffy spoke up.

"Yes, Dawn," she assured the young girl with a smile, "I think we have." Faith nodded her head in agreement.

"Yay!" Dawn yelped with a little jump.

When she had first found out about the two slayers being together Dawn was a little unsure and very skeptical, but the more time she spent with the couple the more she realized that they were meant to be. She'd been worried at first because of Faith's reputation but she quickly learned how much the dark slayer had changed. She was finally capable of love.

"So," Buffy started looking a little apprehensive, "How long have I been out?"

She figured that it couldn't have been too long but she was really hoping that she didn't miss a significant amount of her life in a coma trying to find herself.

"About two weeks," Dawn answered reassuringly.

Buffy sighed with relief. "Good, I was worried that it might have been more in the month's category."

"Yeah, I don't recommend coma's for that long," Faith joked. Her joke got a small chuckle and a bright smile out of Buffy. Mission complete.

The two slayers couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of one another's. Dawn looked back and forth at the two girls she was in between. Taking the hint she stood up from Buffy's bed and began to walk to the exit of her room.

"I'd better go get the doctor and tell the others," the tall girl explained. "Everyone's in the waiting room."

Faith turned to Dawn with confusion. "Everyone's here?"

Dawn nodded her head with a smile. "We were all hoping that you'd be able to bring her out of this," she admitted. "Well…at least me, Willow and Kennedy were. When we called the others they were kind of confused but they came anyway."

The dark haired slayer smiled at Dawn's faith in her. "Thanks kid." Dawn simply smiled in response and then left the room.

After Dawn left the room Faith proceeded to walk to Buffy and sit down next to her on the bed. The blonde looked slightly confused at the conversation between her girlfriend and her sister, but her confusion was quickly forgotten when Faith slowly leaned in and pressed her lips against Buffy's in a soft, perfect kiss.

They slowly pulled away from each other and smiled brightly. "Hey," Faith said playfully as she looked deep into Buffy's eyes.

"Hey back," Buffy greeted in return. For a moment the two simply sat there lost in each other's eyes just basking in the feel of being together once again.

Buffy was the first to break the silence. "So I'm guessing Willow and Kennedy know about us then?" she asked as she put together what was going on in her head.

"Yeah," Faith confirmed nervously. "Sorry about that. They just kind of figured it out. I guess Ken's known for a while now. She's got some really good gaydar and the girl seems to pay real close attention to like everything. And Willow figured it out after seein how upset I was after what happened to you."

Faith took a moment before continuing to study Buffy's face. She didn't seem upset or anything but just in case the younger slayer felt she needed to add one more thing.

"But don't worry B, they're the only people who found out. So it's just those two and Dawn that know."

The blonde slayer could see how hard Faith was trying and she felt bad. She felt horrible that she'd made her girlfriend this way, worrying about who knows about them at a time like this. The tense slayer almost seemed as if she was afraid that Buffy was going to get mad at her for allowing people to find out. Buffy hated herself for that.

She raised her hand to Faith's cheek and gently cupped it in her palm as she looked deep into her eyes as if she were telling Faith exactly how she felt with a glance.

"I don't care," Buffy said softly. Faith looked slightly confused so just to make sure she had heard Buffy correctly she repeated herself. "I don't care if they know, Faith. I don't care if they all know."

Buffy slowly leaned in towards Faith and planted a soft kiss on her lips. When she pulled away from the kiss she made sure to lock her eyes with Faith's once again to convey just how serious she was about everything that she was telling her.

"I'm sorry for everything that I've put you through," the older slayer continued. "I don't want to hide anymore. I know this isn't going to make much sense but being put into a coma really woke me up. It gave me time to think and realize just how much you mean to me, how much I love you."

She kept her hand on Faith's cheek and gently caressed her soft skin with her thumb. She couldn't wipe the smile off of her face and neither could Faith.

The taller slayer closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned into Buffy's touch. She felt like she was in heaven. She knew in that moment that everything was going to be different between them. Things were going to be better. They were going to work out and for the first time being tied down was completely ok with her. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Buffy and the look in Buffy's eyes told her that she was feeling the same way.

"And I want them all to know," Buffy continued. "I want them all to know how much you mean to me. I want the whole world to know how happy you make me and how much I love you."

Faith shook her head in disbelief at how lucky she was. "God I love you so much," she said as she pulled Buffy into her arms and swore that she would never let go.

Buffy smiled brightly and tightened the hug just a little bit more so that they could be that much closer. "I love you too, Baby," she whispered. "I love you too."

The two continued to hold on tightly in each other's arms not ever wanting to move. All that mattered was that they were together and they were going to stay that way.

XXXXXX

A/N: Hello all! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I know it looks like this is the last chapter but don't worry it's not. I still have quite a few ideas of where I could take this story. However, I am kind of going to put it on pause for a little while. I've got a new story that I'm working on and I kind of want to get a few chapter of this one written before posting for it again so that you guys won't have to wait so long for updates like I always seem to make you do…sorry about that. Plus school has started up again and I'm going to have less time to write, which really sucks but you gotta do what you gotta do right?

Anyway thank you all soooo much for reading and reviewing. I really crave reviews and you guys are all great at giving them to me. Thanks so much!


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